Kipper und Wipper

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Kipper und Wipper (German: Kipper- und Wipperzeit, literally "Kipper and Wipper time") was a financial crisis at the start of the Thirty Years' War. While debasement of coinage was observed earlier, with the onset of the war, military expenditures rose drastically and the city-states in the Holy Roman Empire began to heavily debase currency in order to raise revenue. The most severe debasing occurred around 1620–1623. After that time the authorities attempted to curb inflation and debased coins were declared illegal and withdrawn from circulation. The years 1620–1623 saw famine in the Kingdom of Germany, often attributed to Kipper und Wipper among other causes. The name refers to the use of balance scales (Wippen) which quickly tilted (kippen) on good coins. In practice, the balance functioned as a quick threshold test, separating full-weight coins from lighter ones without requiring the exact weight of each coin to be measured.