Batzen Publique Deposited
or more properly in the singu- lar, Batz or Batze, was the name origin- ally given to a silver coin of the size of the Groschen, which was introduced in Berne, early in the sixteenth century, when the Plappart was abolished. It was copied in the other Swiss cantons, as well as in Bavaria, Isny, Strasburg, Nordlingen, Augsburg, etc. According to the best au- thorities the name seems to be derived from the figure of the bear, the armorial device of the canton of Berne. The old German name for this animal was Betz, later Batz. The etymology from the Ital- ian pezza, a piece, is erroneous, as these coins never originated in Italy, but were copied in that country. See Rollbatzen.
The original value of the Batzen was four Kreuzer, therefore 18 Batzen made the Thaler of 72 Kreuzer. It appears to have retained this ratio for a long time, because in Adam Berg's Munzbuch, pub- lished in 1597, as low as 17 Batzen are given as the equivalent of a Thaler.
In the modern Swiss coinage prior to the introduction of the Latin Union sys- tem, the Batzen was one tenth of the Franc, and equal to ten Rappen.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)