Escalin - Jean-Théodore of Bavaria

Jean-Théodore de Bavière held the see of Liège almost entirely as an absentee, spending the bulk of his episcopate in Munich and Rome while administering his territories through vicars. His tenure coincided with a chronic shortage of small silver across the Liège principality, and the escalin issues of 1752–53 were struck specifically to address fractional currency needs that had gone unmet for years. The billon and debased silver coinage circulating in the region at the time was broadly distrusted, making even a .569 fine issue a relative improvement in public confidence.