See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration! or register with email

Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!

Batzen Klippe, 4 batzens weight

Issuer City of Zürich
Year 1639
Type Log in to see details
Value 1 Batzen (1⁄32)
Currency Log in to see details
Composition Log in to see details
Weight Log in to see details
Diameter Log in to see details
Thickness Log in to see details
Shape Log in to see details
Technique Log in to see details
Orientation Log in to see details
Engraver(s) Log in to see details
In circulation to Log in to see details
Reference(s) Log in to see details
Obverse description The obverse displays the crowned arms of Zürich at center — a shield divided diagonally with the traditional Zürich heraldic charges — set within a beaded inner circle. The shield is surmounted by an elaborate crown with foliate detail. The circular Latin legend reads MONETA NOVA in the outer field, separated by star ornaments, all contained within the square klippe flan whose corners extend beyond the inner beaded border.
Obverse script Log in to see details
Obverse lettering ★ MO NET A N . O VA ★
(Translation: Latin (unabridged): Moneta Nova. English: New coin.)
Reverse description Log in to see details
Reverse script Log in to see details
Reverse lettering Log in to see details
Edge Log in to see details
Mint Log in to see details
Mintage Log in to see details
Additional information

Klippe coinage in Zürich was produced almost exclusively for presentation and gift-giving rather than general circulation — these square-cut pieces were favored as New Year's gifts among the city's merchant and guild elite, and survival rates are consequently higher than equivalent round strikes from the same dies. The 1639 date places this squarely within the disruption of the Thirty Years' War, during which Swiss cities maintained careful monetary independence while their neighbors debased aggressively. Zürich held its silver standards exceptionally well through this period.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE