Vierer

Colmar held the right to mint its own coinage as an Imperial Free City within the Holy Roman Empire, a privilege that small municipal authorities jealously guarded and frequently disputed with neighboring powers. This Vierer — a four-pfennig piece struck in debased silver — dates to a decade when Colmar was navigating the religious upheavals of the Reformation while maintaining its commercial ties to both the Rhine trade routes and the Alsatian grain markets. The city's mint output during the 1530s was modest, and Boudeau's cataloging of this type reflects how thinly documented much Alsatian municipal coinage remains.