2 Pfennig

Münster's civic copper issues of the seventeenth century were produced against a backdrop of near-continuous monetary disruption — the Kipper- und Wipperzeit of the early 1620s so thoroughly debased regional silver coinage that small copper pfennig pieces like this one became the only reliable medium for daily exchange across Westphalia. The city retained the right to strike its own municipal coinage well into the latter half of the century, an increasingly rare privilege as territorial consolidation eroded urban minting authority throughout the Holy Roman Empire.

The ninety-four year span covered by this type reflects reuse of long-wearing dies rather than continuous new production.