In 1841, the mint of Zurich was closed down due to 'sickness and age" of mint master Hans Kaspar Wüst. The mint's tools were sold and the position of a mint master abolished. The last coins from Zurich were struck in Stuttgart between 1842 and 1848; it was the end of a coinage tradition that had lasted for centuries. With the foundation of the Swiss Confederation in 1848, the coinage from Zurich at long last came to a definite end. Two years later, in 1850, a common currency was introduced for the whole of Switzerland. Apart from some minor changes, it is used unaltered until this day.