Uri Kreuzer

The Uri Kreuzer was one of the few Swiss cantonal coins struck using copper planchets recycled from melted-down foreign currency, a nod to the era's frugal minting habits.

That recycling wasn't just about thrift. Uri's mint, operating from its alpine stronghold, produced these coins with simple designs—typically a bull for the canton and nominal values—amid the Napoleonic Wars' disruptions. Variations in weight and strike quality arose from inconsistent supplies. No one knows the exact mintage figures; records from that period are spotty at best.

For collectors, the coin's edge is often rough, a testament to hasty production. Spotting a well-preserved specimen is rare, given the copper's tendency to corrode.

Uri's Kreuzer never aspired to grandeur; it was just money for markets and taxes.