24 Kreuzer - John George I

The 24 Kreuzer denomination belongs squarely to the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — the catastrophic currency debasement crisis that swept the Holy Roman Empire between roughly 1619 and 1623. Minters across the Empire, including Electoral Saxony under John George I, exploited the absence of effective monetary oversight during the early Thirty Years' War by issuing vast quantities of debased small silver. The 24 Kreuzer was a creature of this emergency, largely unknown before the crisis and abandoned almost as quickly once imperial authorities moved to restore monetary order.

John George I was, somewhat ironically, among the more vocal critics of the debasement — yet Saxony participated nonetheless.