Paderborn's civic copper issues of the early seventeenth century emerged from persistent friction between the city's merchant council and the Prince-Bishopric over the right to strike small-change coinage. The 1605 date places this piece squarely in a period when the bishopric under Dietrich von Fürstenberg was aggressively reasserting ecclesiastical authority across Westphalia, making independent civic mintage a quietly political act.
Copper pfennig-range denominations from this period circulated hard and are rarely found without significant wear. The Schwede 362 A/a designation distinguishes a specific obverse die pairing within what is already a scarce civic type.
Paderborn's civic copper issues of the early seventeenth century emerged from persistent friction between the city's merchant council and the Prince-Bishopric over the right to strike small-change coinage. The 1605 date places this piece squarely in a period when the bishopric under Dietrich von Fürstenberg was aggressively reasserting ecclesiastical authority across Westphalia, making independent civic mintage a quietly political act.
Copper pfennig-range denominations from this period circulated hard and are rarely found without significant wear. The Schwede 362 A/a designation distinguishes a specific obverse die pairing within what is already a scarce civic type.