24 Kreuzer - Philip Ernest of Langenburg Kipper

The Kipper und Wipper crisis of 1619–1623 was one of the most catastrophic currency debasements in early modern European history, driven by dozens of minor German princes who exploited imperial monetary law to mint coins far below their face value, pocketing the difference. Hohenlohe-Langenburg was among the smaller territories that participated aggressively. Philip Ernest held the county from 1610 and used the Kipper period to extract seigniorage profits that briefly supplemented revenues his modest lands could not otherwise generate.

The 24 Kreuzer denomination — sometimes called a Sechsbätzner — was a favored vehicle for this debasement precisely because it was large enough to matter but not so large as to invite immediate suspicion.