4 Pfennig

Osnabrück occupied a uniquely split administrative position in the early eighteenth century — under the terms of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, the bishopric alternated between Catholic and Protestant rulers with each successive incumbent. In 1702 the see was held by Karl Joseph of Lorraine, a Catholic, which placed the city's civic authorities in the awkward position of issuing their own municipal coinage largely independent of episcopal oversight. These small billon pieces filled a genuine gap in everyday transactional currency that the bishopric showed little urgency in supplying.