The Kipper und Wipperzeit was a devastating economic crisis in the Holy Roman Empire, driven by the widespread debasement of small-denomination coins to finance the Thirty Years' War. States clipped and mixed silver coins with copper, creating hyperinflation and a classic case of Gresham's Law, as bad money drove out good. The crisis reached its peak around 1621–1623, causing social chaos, currency wars between states, and a collapse in public trust in money.

The crisis left a deep mark on German Baroque literature, with poets like Andreas Gryphius using images of false coin and counterfeit value to explore themes of deception, mortality, and the fragility of worldly wealth. The period's pervasive anxiety about monetary worth is echoed in the era's emblem books and moralistic poetry, which warned against trusting appearances.