4 Pfennig - Maximilian I

These copper 4 Pfennig pieces were emergency small change issued as the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — the "clipping and see-sawing" crisis — reached its most destructive phase across the German states. Unscrupulous mint operators and territorial rulers had systematically debased silver coinage since around 1618, creating a vacuum of trustworthy small denomination currency. Bavaria and dozens of other territories flooded circulation with base-metal substitutes to fill it.

Maximilian I had only been elevated to Elector in 1623, so these were struck while he still held ducal title alone — a distinction that matters for establishing the precise political moment of issue.