Kreutzer Bear facing right

Appenzell Innerrhoden remained one of the smallest and most fiercely independent Catholic cantons in the Confederation, and its coinage rights — exercised sporadically through the 17th and 18th centuries — reflect that stubborn autonomy. The 1738 issue falls within a period when Swiss cantonal billon was already being squeezed out by better-regulated foreign coin flooding local markets, particularly French and South German issues that circulated freely across the Rhine borderlands.

HMZ distinguishes this as variety 2-43c, differentiating it from closely related dies of the same period by minor details that reward careful attribution.