2 Pfennig - Ernest Louis

Ernest Louis ruled Hesse-Darmstadt from 1678 until his death in 1739, presiding over a court that punched well above its weight culturally — he founded the Darmstadt court orchestra and maintained one of the more sophisticated musical establishments in the German states. Financially, however, the landgraviate was perpetually strained, and small copper issues like this pfennig were minted partly to address chronic shortages of low-denomination coinage that plagued interior German territories throughout the early eighteenth century.

At 1.9 grams, these copper pieces were produced with minimal quality control, and planchet irregularities are the rule rather than the exception.