This is a school prize token, not a coin — issued by the Jesuit-run Collège Saint-Michel in Fribourg as an academic award distributed to students. The Jesuits had administered the college since 1582, and the practice of issuing merit tokens denominated in local monetary units was a common pedagogical tool across Catholic Switzerland, allowing recipients to exchange them for books or supplies. The brass composition is deliberate: these were never intended for monetary circulation and the base metal signaled as much.
HMZ 2#290a is the only recorded variety for this type.
This is a school prize token, not a coin — issued by the Jesuit-run Collège Saint-Michel in Fribourg as an academic award distributed to students. The Jesuits had administered the college since 1582, and the practice of issuing merit tokens denominated in local monetary units was a common pedagogical tool across Catholic Switzerland, allowing recipients to exchange them for books or supplies. The brass composition is deliberate: these were never intended for monetary circulation and the base metal signaled as much.
HMZ 2#290a is the only recorded variety for this type.