Angster

The Angster was a small Swiss accounting coin — its name likely derived from the Latin angustus, meaning narrow or tight, a reference to its minimal silver content. Schaffhausen's civic coinage rights were exercised intermittently throughout the late medieval period, and issues of this denomination reflect the city's commercial need for low-value exchange currency rather than any political statement. At roughly a third of a gram of silver, the striking process alone left little margin for error.