Bocholt's fractional copper issues of the early seventeenth century were emergency municipal coinages, struck to address the chronic shortage of small-denomination specie that plagued Westphalian towns during the prolonged monetary disruptions of the period. The odd denomination — 15¾ Heller — reflects the city's attempt to peg local copper to a specific fractional value of the Reichsthaler, a calculation that varied by region and produced some of the most arithmetically peculiar denominations in German numismatics.
Bocholt's fractional copper issues of the early seventeenth century were emergency municipal coinages, struck to address the chronic shortage of small-denomination specie that plagued Westphalian towns during the prolonged monetary disruptions of the period. The odd denomination — 15¾ Heller — reflects the city's attempt to peg local copper to a specific fractional value of the Reichsthaler, a calculation that varied by region and produced some of the most arithmetically peculiar denominations in German numismatics.