The Pfundner — named for its value of one pound of Berner — was Sigismund of Tyrol's contribution to a broader drive toward larger silver denominational coins in the Holy Roman Empire during the 1470s. Sigismund's Hall mint, situated on the Inn River with direct access to Alpine silver from the Schwaz mines, was producing enormous quantities of silver at precisely the moment European monetary systems were hungry for heavier coinage. The Schwaz deposit, discovered in full productive force around 1470, was then the richest silver source in Europe.
Sigismund eventually bankrupted himself despite — or partly because of — this mineral wealth, ceding Tyrol to Maximilian I in 1490.
The Pfundner — named for its value of one pound of Berner — was Sigismund of Tyrol's contribution to a broader drive toward larger silver denominational coins in the Holy Roman Empire during the 1470s. Sigismund's Hall mint, situated on the Inn River with direct access to Alpine silver from the Schwaz mines, was producing enormous quantities of silver at precisely the moment European monetary systems were hungry for heavier coinage. The Schwaz deposit, discovered in full productive force around 1470, was then the richest silver source in Europe.
Sigismund eventually bankrupted himself despite — or partly because of — this mineral wealth, ceding Tyrol to Maximilian I in 1490.