4 Thalers – Duchy of Krummau

In 1644, the Duchy of Krummau (Krumlov), a dominion of the House of Eggenberg within the Kingdom of Bohemia, operated within a complex and strained monetary environment shaped by the Thirty Years' War. The war had severely disrupted Central European economies, leading to rampant currency debasement. While the right of coinage was a regal privilege held by the Habsburg Emperor, Ferdinand III, the practical monetary circulation in Krummau was a chaotic mix of official imperial coins, heavily debased Kipper und Wipper emergency coinage from various German states, and older, more valuable pre-war coins that were hoarded. This created a multi-tiered system where the intrinsic silver content of a coin was often more important than its face value.

The local economy, heavily agrarian but with significant trade along the Vltava River, suffered from this instability. Prices for goods were highly volatile, and transactions were complicated by the need to constantly assess and negotiate the worth of different coins. The Eggenberg administration, while managing their own estates and local tolls, had to navigate this inflationary crisis. Their revenues, collected in a mix of depreciating currency, were effectively reduced, straining the duchy's ability to maintain its court and infrastructure.

Ultimately, the currency situation in Krummau in 1644 was not unique but a local reflection of a wider imperial catastrophe. The duchy lacked independent monetary authority and was at the mercy of the Habsburgs' desperate wartime finance. Stability would only begin to return after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, with subsequent imperial reforms aiming to standardize and restore confidence in the coinage. For that year, however, economic life in the duchy was characterized by uncertainty, scarcity of sound money, and the corrosive effects of a prolonged war on the very medium of exchange.