The Bishopric of Paderborn's copper small change of this period circulated through one of the most economically devastated regions in Europe — the Thirty Years' War had ended only in 1648, and the Rhine-Westphalian territories were still rebuilding shattered trade networks when these pieces entered circulation. Theodor Adolf von der Recke served as Prince-Bishop from 1650 until his death in 1661, and his early issues addressed a genuine shortage of low-denomination coin that the war years had produced.
The Bishopric of Paderborn's copper small change of this period circulated through one of the most economically devastated regions in Europe — the Thirty Years' War had ended only in 1648, and the Rhine-Westphalian territories were still rebuilding shattered trade networks when these pieces entered circulation. Theodor Adolf von der Recke served as Prince-Bishop from 1650 until his death in 1661, and his early issues addressed a genuine shortage of low-denomination coin that the war years had produced.