Batzen - Adrian V

Adrian V de Riedmatten served as Prince-Bishop of Sion during a period when the Valais retained full monetary authority as an independent ecclesiastical principality — a status it jealously defended against both Savoyard and Swiss Confederation pressure. The batzen denomination was workhorse coinage for the Alpine trade routes crossing the Simplon and Great St. Bernard passes, and billon issues like this one absorbed the chronic silver shortages that plagued small Swiss states throughout the second half of the seventeenth century.

The HMZ 1#2-1060a designation confirms this as the primary catalogued variety for the type.