2 1/2 Rappen

Solothurn's 2½ Rappen denomination is an oddity born of practical necessity — Swiss cantonal coinage of the 1820s and 1830s operated across a patchwork of local accounting systems, and fractional values like this one emerged to bridge incompatible reckoning between cantons rather than from any coherent monetary design. Within two decades, the Federal Constitution of 1848 and the subsequent creation of the Swiss Federal Mint in 1853 rendered all such cantonal issues obsolete, withdrawing them from circulation permanently. Billon survivors in collectible condition are genuinely scarce; the alloy's low silver content made these coins unpopular, and many were melted rather than hoarded.