2 Pfennig - Ferdinand Ⅱ St Veit

Ferdinand II struck these small billon pieces from St. Veit — the ancient Carinthian mint whose origins predated the Habsburgs by centuries — during the fractious middle years of the Thirty Years' War. Imperial finances were under severe strain, and the proliferation of debased small coinage across the hereditary lands in this period was both symptom and cause of the Kipper und Wipper crisis, a speculative debasement spiral that had convulsed Central European currency markets just before this issue began.

St. Veit ceased operating as a mint shortly after this series ended, making it one of the last coinages the facility ever produced.