Holy Roman Empire, County of Lüneburg, Bishop Christian of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Kipper-Dreigutepfennig

According to the imperial coinage regulations of the 16th century, even small coins like pfennigs and hellers were to be minted from an alloy of silver. But during the first years of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), many princes were forced to spend high sums on armament. To finance the rigging and to benefit for themselves, they therefore began to increasingly lower the silver content of their coins. His Excellency Christian of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Bishop of Minden (1611-1633), tricked his people in an particularly elaborate way. He had his coin dies very carefully cut and his coins neatly minted. The inscription on this piece reads III GP (3 good pfennigs). The bishop seemed not to care that it was impossible to issue good pfennigs from copper. The main thing was that the appearance was kept up …