Liege Denier

The Liege Denier, a silver coin from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, was often struck using recycled metal from older currencies, a practical measure amid frequent wars.

This reflected the region's economic pressures, where silver was scarce and bishops doubled as mint masters. Deniers varied in weight and purity over the two centuries, adapting to inflation or trade demands. Some issues showed crude strikes, with the bishop's arms on one face and a cross on the other, hallmarks of local craftsmanship.

Records are spotty; we know production peaked under certain bishops, like the 16th-century ones, but exact mintages vanished in later upheavals. Historians guess at millions circulated, yet that's just a hunch.

Planchets might have come from melted foreign coins, turning global flows into local change. That's numismatics for you—always a mix of ingenuity and scrap.