Batzen

The batzen is a historical Swiss, south German and Austrian coin.

Bernese chronicler Valerius Anshelm explained the word from a folk etymology perspective saying that it came from Bëtz ("bear"), the heraldic animal of the Swiss canton, which was embossed on the reverse of the coin.

[6] The Batzen became a widespread intermediate currency between the numerous large and small silver coins circulating in Europe.

In the time of counterfeiting, the Kipper and Wipper period, for example in Thuringia inter alia in the mints of Gotha (1621–1623) and Weimar (1619–1622), other Kipper coins worth three and six Batzen were minted (the Dreibätzner and Sechsbätzner).

Even after the Munich Coinage Treaty of 1837, Batzen were minted as Scheidemünzen to the value of four Kreuzers in some member states, for example in the Free City of Frankfurt.

When a Swiss single currency was introduced for the first time in 1798–1803 by the Helvetic Republic, the Batzen was also integrated into the system.

After the end of the single currency, coin sovereignty was returned to the cantons, some of which retained the decimal Franc-Batzen-Rappen division (Aargau, city of Basel, Bern, Freiburg, Lucerne, Solothurn, Unterwalden, Uri, Vaud, Valais, Zug).