1. Introduction
The Reichsmünzordnungen (Imperial Coin Ordinances) were the regulations adopted at the Diets of Esslingen (1524) and Augsburg (1551 and 1559; Reichstag) to unify the coinage of the Holy Roman Empire. Such a union had become necessary because the haphazard changes made to the Münzfuß (monetary standard, literally “coin foot”) – that is, the number of coins to be struck from a mass unit of metal – by coin masters…