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Producing small coins was often a costly affair in the later Middle Ages. The process is labour intensive, and therewith relatively expensive. As of the late fourteenth century their production had become so unattractive for the mint master that the ducal administration needed to take measures to ensure a minimum supply of petty coins. These measures were probably insufficient, which opened a market for seigneurial mints. After their activities stopped around 1450, some cities in the Duchy of Gelre were allowed to strike minor denominations. As these probably had a fiduciary character, a profit could still be made. The profits were generally assigned to the city’s main church. This solution to supply small coins was typical for Gelre and may not have occurred elsewhere. The paper focuses on its evolution in the period 1450s-1543.
