1 Ecu – Prince-bishopric of Liege

In 1784, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège was grappling with a severe and multifaceted monetary crisis, a direct consequence of decades of fiscal mismanagement and external economic pressures. The state treasury was deeply in debt, forcing the government to repeatedly debase its own coinage. By issuing liard and patard coins with progressively lower silver content but the same face value, the authorities sought to generate seigniorage profit to fund their expenditures. This practice, however, eroded public trust and flooded the market with unstable, poor-quality currency.

The situation was critically exacerbated by the circulation of vast quantities of foreign and counterfeit coins within the bishopric's borders. Neighboring states, particularly the Austrian Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, also engaged in competitive devaluations, leading to a chaotic mix of currencies of varying intrinsic values. This "bad money" drove out the "good," as remaining full-weight coins were hoarded or exported, leaving everyday commerce dependent on unreliable and inflated specie. Prices became unstable, and the populace, especially the poor who dealt in small coinage, suffered from a hidden inflation tax.

This monetary instability fueled deep-seated social and political discontent, becoming a focal point for broader grievances against the conservative and financially irresponsible Ancien Régime government of Prince-Bishop César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck. The crisis undermined economic confidence, harmed trade, and alienated both the merchant class and the working poor. It created a tinderbox of resentment that would, within five years, contribute directly to the outbreak of the Liège Revolution in 1789, which briefly overthrew the prince-episcopal authority in parallel with the larger Brabant Revolution in the neighbouring Austrian Netherlands.