⅓ Thaler – Swedish dominion of Pomerania

In 1672, the currency situation in Swedish Pomerania was complex and strained, reflecting both its unique political status and the broader monetary chaos of the Holy Roman Empire. As a dominion of the Swedish Crown within the Empire, the region operated under a dual monetary system. Officially, it used the Swedish monetary system based on silver daler, but in daily practice, transactions were dominated by a plethora of circulating German and local coins, particularly the low-value pfennigs and schillings from various neighbouring states. This created a chronic problem of currency fragmentation and uncertainty in exchange rates.

The primary challenge was severe debasement and inflation, driven by the Kipper- und Wipperzeit crisis that had devastated Central European coinage earlier in the century. Swedish authorities, like many German princes, were tempted to mint inferior coinage for short-term profit, flooding the market with coins of diminished silver content. This practice, combined with the influx of even more debased coins from neighbouring territories like Brandenburg and Mecklenburg, eroded public trust. Prices became unstable, and the population struggled with the discrepancy between the nominal and intrinsic value of the money in their hands.

Swedish attempts to regulate the situation, including minting ordinances to standardize coinage, were largely ineffective against these market forces. The monetary disorder hampered commerce and state finances, as tax revenues collected in debased coin lost value. Thus, in 1672, the currency system was a source of economic weakness, caught between Swedish imperial ambitions and the harsh realities of a fragmented and inflationary regional economy, a problem that would persist throughout Swedish rule.