2 Rappen - wreath ↺

Schwyz was one of the last Swiss cantons to surrender its minting rights, continuing to issue cantonal coinage well into the 1840s even as political pressure mounted for a unified federal currency. The 1848 federal constitution finally ended cantonal monetary autonomy, but issues like this one were still circulating — and being struck — right up to that transition.

Billon was the practical choice for low-denomination cantonal issues: silver content low enough to keep production economical, high enough to resist the most aggressive counterfeiting of the period.