Batzen

Fribourg's 1620 Batzen was struck during the opening years of the Thirty Years' War, a conflict that immediately disrupted trade networks across the Confederation and created acute demand for small-denomination billon coinage. As a Catholic canton, Fribourg navigated the war's confessional fault lines carefully, maintaining commercial ties with both French and Habsburg partners — a balancing act that kept its mints active while others faltered.

The HMZ reference places this piece within a tightly documented sequence of Fribourg Batzen varieties distinguished by subtle differences in the cantonal arms rendering and die alignment.