5 Kreuzer – Bishopric of Salzburg

In 1793, the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg operated within the complex monetary landscape of the Holy Roman Empire. It did not mint its own major silver or gold coins but instead issued lower-denomination Kreuzer and Pfennig coins for local trade. The primary large-currency unit in circulation was the Conventionsthaler, a standardized silver coin adopted by the southern German states in 1753. This meant Salzburg's economy was tied to a regional monetary standard, where one Conventionsthaler was equal to 2.4 Gulden or 120 Kreuzer, providing a degree of stability in cross-border trade with neighboring Bavaria and Austria.

However, this stability was under growing strain. The period was marked by significant coin debasement across the Empire, as states engaged in near-constant warfare (most notably the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars) and required revenue. While Salzburg itself, under Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo, was not a major belligerent, it was inevitably affected by the inflationary pressures and influx of inferior coinage from neighboring regions. The Archbishopric's own small mint was primarily engaged in producing token coinage, and the authority to control the broader money supply was limited.

Furthermore, Salzburg's currency situation reflected its precarious political position. Economically oriented towards the Habsburg lands, it faced competing monetary influences. The year 1793 fell within a final period of relative peace before the territory's dramatic upheaval: within a decade, secularization would dissolve the Prince-Archbishopric. Thus, while its currency system functioned on the surface, it was embedded in an imperial structure that was fiscally stressed and on the brink of collapse, foreshadowing the end of Salzburg's independent monetary existence.