Lucerne's copper Angster issues of the eighteenth century were small-denomination municipal coinage produced to address chronic shortages of petty currency — a problem endemic to Swiss cantons whose larger silver issues consistently disappeared into hoarding or cross-border trade. By 1773, Lucerne's mint was among the last in the Confederation still striking copper at this denomination, most others having abandoned the Angster entirely.
The Wielandt reference remains the authoritative die study for Lucerne copper, distinguishing several obverse and reverse pairings across the 1773 output that official catalogs collapse into a single type.
Lucerne's copper Angster issues of the eighteenth century were small-denomination municipal coinage produced to address chronic shortages of petty currency — a problem endemic to Swiss cantons whose larger silver issues consistently disappeared into hoarding or cross-border trade. By 1773, Lucerne's mint was among the last in the Confederation still striking copper at this denomination, most others having abandoned the Angster entirely.
The Wielandt reference remains the authoritative die study for Lucerne copper, distinguishing several obverse and reverse pairings across the 1773 output that official catalogs collapse into a single type.