3 Heller

Liegnitz issued these copper Heller during the early years of the Thirty Years' War, a period of monetary chaos across the German states known as the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — roughly 1619 to 1623 — when scores of minor authorities debased coinage aggressively to profit from the difference between face value and metal content. Cities, lordships, and episcopal mints flooded circulation with underweight small denominations. Liegnitz, as a Silesian duchy under Habsburg suzerainty but with considerable local autonomy, participated in this emergency small-change production alongside dozens of other regional issuers.

At 0.45 g, this piece sits at the extreme low end of even Kipper-era output.