Kipper und Wipper facts for kids

Kipper und Wipper (which means "Tipper and See-saw time" in German) was a big money problem that happened at the start of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Around 1621, many cities in the Holy Roman Empire started making their money worth less. They did this to get more money for the war because they didn't have a good way to collect taxes.

More and more places that made coins (called mints) opened up. The new coins were made with so little valuable metal that they became almost worthless. People even said that children played with these cheap coins in the streets! This idea was later used in a story by Leo Tolstoy called "Ivan the Fool".

The name "Kipper und Wipper" comes from how people cheated with money. "Tipping scales" were used to find good coins. These good coins were then taken out of use, melted down, and mixed with cheaper metals like lead, copper, or tin. Then, new, less valuable coins were made and put back into circulation.

Often, states would not make their own money less valuable. Instead, they would make fake, low-value copies of coins from other areas. They would then spend these fake coins far away from their own lands. They hoped this would hurt the economy of other regions, not their own. This worked for a while.

But soon, people figured out what was happening. They wrote angry letters and had small riots. Soldiers and hired fighters (mercenaries) refused to fight unless they were paid with real, good money. Also, the states started getting their own worthless coins back when people paid taxes. Because of these problems, the practice mostly stopped around 1623. However, the damage was huge, causing money problems in almost all the cities in the area. Similar, smaller problems happened again later in the 17th and 18th centuries. These money problems spread from Germany to Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland.

What Does Kipper und Wipper Mean?

The name Kipper und Wipper comes from old slang from the 1600s. It describes the money crisis. Kipper means "clipping coins." This is when people would cut or shave off small pieces from the edges of coins. They could do this because the sides of coins were not smooth or grooved. Coins with grooves on the sides are called "milled coins." These grooves stop people from clipping them.

Wipper means "seesaw" or "to wag." This part of the name refers to how merchants or money changers would weigh money. They would keep the scale moving so they could quickly swap good, valuable coins with bad, less valuable ones. Often, coins were melted down and mixed with cheaper metals like copper to make them less valuable.

How Coins Were Made Less Valuable

During the Kipper und Wipper period, there were two main ways coins were made less valuable. This was done to help pay for the Thirty Years' War, which was happening at the same time.

Clipping and Melting Coins

One way was by clipping or shaving the sides of coins. This reduced the amount of precious metal, like silver, in each coin. The other way was by melting coins. They would melt down good coins, mix them with cheaper metals, and then make new coins. These new coins looked the same but had much less valuable metal inside. This meant their "face value" (what they said they were worth) was much higher than their "melt value" (the actual worth of the metal in them).

Why It Happened

A big reason for more cheap coins was a decision by six cities. They decided to let more mints open. Mints are places where money is made. By having more mints, they could make many more of these less valuable coins.

What Happened Because of It

Many European states tried to pay for their wars using these less valuable coins. A writer named Charles P. Kindleberger explained it well. He said that states would make cheap coins, then trade them in a nearby state for good coins. These good coins had more silver.

However, the neighboring states also started making their coins less valuable to avoid losing money. This led to something called hyperinflation. Hyperinflation means prices go up very, very quickly in a short time. This became a huge problem across many parts of Europe as the cheap coins spread fast from one state to another.

Trying to Stop the Problem

During this crisis, people tried many ways to stop coins from being made less valuable. They also wanted to prevent something called Gresham's Law. This law says that coins with less valuable metal (lower "melt value") tend to be used and passed around more quickly than coins with more valuable metal.

In Europe, there were rules against bringing in bad coins and taking out good coins. People who broke these rules could be punished. Punishments included being sent away, being burned, or having their goods taken away. But these rules were hard to make stick. So, bad coins and good coins kept moving in and out of different states.