Solothurn Batzen

The Solothurn Batzen was typically struck on planchets made from recycled silver, often sourced from melted-down foreign coins like Spanish reales, reflecting the pragmatic recycling common in 17th-century Swiss minting.

This cantonal coin, issued by Solothurn from 1600 to 1798, bore simple designs: the city's arms on one side, perhaps a cross or value on the other. Sizes varied, but most were small billon pieces, valued at a few kreuzer. Minters in Solothurn aimed for consistency, yet wear from circulation often blurred the details.

We don't know exact mintage figures; records from that era are spotty. What survives shows variations in weight and fineness, likely due to fluctuating silver supplies.

One oddity: the Batzen's design sometimes included a bear, Solothurn's symbol, which must have puzzled merchants wondering if it was a heraldic nod or just a minting error.