24 Kreuzer - Charles Günther

Charles Günther issued this coin during the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, the currency crisis of 1619–1623 in which German princes, cities, and mints across the Holy Roman Empire systematically debased their coinage to exploit fixed exchange rates. Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a minor Thuringian county with limited economic leverage, and participation in the debasement wave was less opportunism than survival — neighboring mints were flooding markets with underweight silver, and holding back meant accepting depreciated coin while issuing full-weight metal. The resulting flood of debased Kipper coinage eventually collapsed the arbitrage and triggered widespread commercial disruption across the Empire.

KM#17 is among the more obscure products of that crisis. At 2.45g for a 24 Kreuzer piece, the silver content falls well short of what the face value implied.