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4 Kreuzer
| Issuer | City of St. Gallen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1621 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Central field depicts the rampant bear of St. Gallen facing left, rendered in the vigorous late-Renaissance hammered style characteristic of early seventeenth-century Swiss municipal coinage. The date 1621 is divided across the field to either side of the bear's body. The denomination mark (4K) appears within a cartouche at the base of the design. The central device is enclosed within a rope-twist inner border, with the Latin circumferential legend reading MO : NO : CIVI : SANGALLENSIS separated by a floral ornament, running between the inner border and the plain outer rim. |
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| Obverse lettering | 1621 ✿ MO : NO : CIVI : SANGALLENSIS (4K) |
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| Additional information |
St. Gallen struck this issue in the thick of the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, the currency crisis of 1619–1623 in which mints across the Holy Roman Empire systematically debased small-denomination coinage, clipped good silver, and flooded markets with underweight billon. The city, holding status as both an imperial free city and a cantonal capital, operated its own mint and participated — like most of its neighbors — in the inflationary spiral that ultimately destabilized regional trade networks for years.
The billon composition reflects deliberate debasement policy rather than material shortage.