15 Kreuzers - Maximilian II Emanuel

Maximilian II Emanuel was governing Bavaria from Brussels at the time most of these pieces were struck — appointed Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands in 1692, he spent the bulk of this issue's production years abroad, prosecuting the Nine Years' War and then the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburgs. The irony is sharp: coins bearing his authority were being minted in Munich while he was militarily overextended in the Low Countries, a gamble that ultimately ended in his electoral ban and exile following the catastrophic defeat at Blenheim in 1704.

The billon composition reflects Bavaria's chronic fiscal strain through this period, silver content kept deliberately low to stretch bullion reserves during wartime expenditure.