2 Pfennigs – Bishopric of Salzburg
Obverse
Reverse
Edge
Plain.
Categories
| Animal> Feline |
| Symbols> Coat of Arms |
Mints
| Name | Mark |
|---|---|
| Salzburg | — |
Mintings
| Year | Mint Mark | Mintage | Quality | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1794 | — | — | ||
| 1795 | — | — | ||
| 1796 | — | — | ||
| 1797 | — | — | ||
| 1798 | — | — | ||
| 1799 | — | — | ||
| 1800 | — | — | ||
| 1801 | — | — |
Historical background
In 1794, the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg was navigating a complex and deteriorating monetary landscape, characteristic of the final years of the Holy Roman Empire's ancien régime. The territory, ruled by Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo, did not mint its own standard silver talers or gold coins for general circulation. Instead, its currency system relied heavily on a mix of regional and foreign coins. The official accounting was done in Salzburg Gulden (florin), divided into 60 Kreuzer, but the physical money in use consisted primarily of South German kreuzer coins and Bavarian talers, alongside various other German state currencies that flowed across its borders. This reliance on external minting created inherent economic vulnerability.
The period was marked by significant inflationary pressure and coin debasement, problems that were empire-wide. The immense costs of the ongoing wars with revolutionary France (the War of the First Coalition) strained public finances across Germany. To raise funds, many states, including Salzburg's neighbors, engaged in reducing the precious metal content of their smaller denomination coins. This led to a flood of "bad money" driving "good money" (full-weight silver coins) out of circulation, in accordance with Gresham's law. Consequently, Salzburg's economy suffered from a shortage of reliable specie, confusion in exchange rates, and a decline in purchasing power, which bred public anxiety and market instability.
Within this chaotic context, Archbishop Colloredo, an enlightened reformer in other domains, took a conservative monetary approach. His government attempted to maintain stability by issuing periodic mandates (Münzmandate) that fixed official exchange rates between the various circulating coins and the Salzburg Gulden. These decrees, however, were largely defensive and ineffectual against powerful regional economic forces. They could not halt the influx of debased coinage or solve the structural problems. Thus, in 1794, Salzburg's currency situation was one of fragile dependency, eroding value, and administrative struggle against trends that would ultimately contribute to the old order's collapse just a decade later with the Archbishopric's secularization in 1803.
The period was marked by significant inflationary pressure and coin debasement, problems that were empire-wide. The immense costs of the ongoing wars with revolutionary France (the War of the First Coalition) strained public finances across Germany. To raise funds, many states, including Salzburg's neighbors, engaged in reducing the precious metal content of their smaller denomination coins. This led to a flood of "bad money" driving "good money" (full-weight silver coins) out of circulation, in accordance with Gresham's law. Consequently, Salzburg's economy suffered from a shortage of reliable specie, confusion in exchange rates, and a decline in purchasing power, which bred public anxiety and market instability.
Within this chaotic context, Archbishop Colloredo, an enlightened reformer in other domains, took a conservative monetary approach. His government attempted to maintain stability by issuing periodic mandates (Münzmandate) that fixed official exchange rates between the various circulating coins and the Salzburg Gulden. These decrees, however, were largely defensive and ineffectual against powerful regional economic forces. They could not halt the influx of debased coinage or solve the structural problems. Thus, in 1794, Salzburg's currency situation was one of fragile dependency, eroding value, and administrative struggle against trends that would ultimately contribute to the old order's collapse just a decade later with the Archbishopric's secularization in 1803.
💎 Very Rare