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40 Batzens Counterstamped
| Issuer | Canton of Bern |
|---|---|
| Year | 1816-1819 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | KM#182 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | LOUIS XVI ROI DES FRANÇOIS 1792 |
| Reverse description | The reverse of the host French constitutional écu of 1792 features a standing winged figure of Law, facing slightly right, holding a stylus in one raised hand and resting the other on a tablet inscribed CONSTI TUTION. To the left stands a fasces surmounted by a Phrygian cap, symbolizing liberty; to the right, a Gallic rooster stands atop a plinth. Applied as a counterstamp to the tablet is an incuse rectangular punch bearing the denomination 40 BZ. in two lines, impressed by Bernese authorities to authorize the coin's local value of 40 Batzen. The circumferential legend reads REGNE DE LA LOI, with L'AN 4 DE LA LIBERTÉ inscribed in the lower exergue. |
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| Additional information |
Following Napoleon's defeat and the collapse of the Helvetic Republic, Switzerland's restored cantonal governments faced a monetary nightmare: foreign coins — French écus, German talers, Austrian Maria Theresa dollars — circulated freely with no agreed equivalence. Bern's solution was pragmatic and blunt. Rather than strike entirely new coinage, the canton counterstamped existing foreign silver pieces with a Bern bear and the denomination 40 Batzen, absorbing them into local circulation at a fixed official rate.
The host coins vary considerably, which is precisely what makes attribution tricky. The counterstamp itself, not the undertype, determines KM#182.