Goldgulden

Zürich struck this gulden in 1622 against the backdrop of the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, the currency debasement crisis that swept the Holy Roman Empire from roughly 1619 to 1623. While lesser authorities across the Empire were shaving and sweating their silver coinage to dangerous degrees, Zürich's gold output held to a fineness that made these pieces genuinely trustworthy in commerce — a distinction that mattered when merchants had good reason to distrust nearly everything else crossing their counters.

The .986 fineness marginally exceeds the Rhenish gulden standard, suggesting deliberate positioning rather than accident.