The pfennig or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, it lost its value through the years and was the minor coin of the Mark currencies in the German Reich, West and East Germany, and the reunified Germany until the introduction of the euro. Pfennig was also the name of the subunit of the Danzig mark (1922–1923) and the Danzig gulden (1923–1939) in the Free City of Danzig.
Groschen a name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire and other parts of Europe. The word is borrowed from the late Latin description of a tornose, a grossus denarius Turnosus, in English the "thick denarius of Tours". Groschen was frequently abbreviated in old documents to gl, whereby the second letter was not an l, but an abbreviation symbol; later it was written as Gr or g.
The German mark was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the gold standard from 1871–1914, but like most nations during World War I, the German Empire removed the gold backing in August 1914, and gold and silver coins ceased to circulate.
The Heller, abbreviation hlr, was a coin, originally valued at half a pfennig, that was issued in Switzerland and states of the Holy Roman Empire, surviving in some European countries until the 20th century.
The Vereinsthaler was a standard silver coin used in most German states and the Austrian Empire in the years before German unification.
The Silbergroschen was a coin used in Prussia and several other German Confederation states in northern Germany during the 19th century, worth one thirtieth of a Thaler.
The Neugroschen was a Saxon Scheidemünze coin minted from 1841 to 1873 which had the inscription Neugroschen. This groschen, made of billon, was equivalent to the Prussian groschen but, unlike the latter, was divided not into 12, but into 10 pfennigs.
The Conventionstaler or Konventionstaler, was a standard silver coin in Austrian Empire and the southern Germany states of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-18th to early 19th-centuries. Its most famous example is the Maria Theresa thaler which is still minted today. The Conventionsgulden was equivalent to a 1⁄2Conventionsthaler.
The South German Gulden was the currency of the states of southern Germany between 1754 and 1873. These states included Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Frankfurt and Hohenzollern. It was divided into 60 kreuzer, with each kreuzer worth 4 pfennig or 8 heller.
The Vereinsthaler was the currency of the Kingdom of Saxony between 1857 and 1873. It replaced the Thaler at par and was replaced by the Mark at a rate of 1 Vereinsthaler = 3 Mark. The Vereinsthaler was subdivided into 30 Neugroschen, each of 10 Pfennig.
The Thaler was the currency of the Electorate, later Kingdom of Hanover until 1857. It was identical to the North German thaler except from 1754 to 1834 when it was worth 1/12 a Cologne Mark of fine silver. It was subdivided into 36 Mariengroschen, each of 8 Pfennig.
The Thaler was a currency of the Kingdom of Westphalia between 1807 and 1813. From 1808, it circulated alongside the Frank. The Thaler was equal to those of the preceding states, including the Hannovarian Thaler. It was subdivided into 36 Mariengroschen, each of 8 Pfennig.
The North German thaler was the currency of the Landgravate, then Electorate of Hesse-Kassel until 1858. Until 1807, the Thaler was subdivided into 32 Albus, each of 12 Heller. It was worth 3⁄4th a Conventionsthaler from 1754 to 1841.
Bavaria used the South German gulden as its currency until 1873. Between 1754 and 1837 it was a unit of account, worth 5⁄12 of a Conventionsthaler, used to denominate banknotes but not issued as a coin. The Gulden was worth 50 Conventionskreuzer or 60 Kreuzer Landmünze.
The Thaler was a currency denomination worth 2 Gulden used by St. Gallen until 1798.
The Frank was the currency of the Swiss canton of St. Gallen between 1798 and 1850. It was subdivided into 10 Batzen, each of 4 Kreuzer or 16 Pfennig. It was worth 1⁄4th the French silver écu or 6.67 g fine silver.
The Dresden Coinage Convention of 1838 was a multilateral treaty that attempted to bring some degree of standardisation to the currencies used in the Zollverein.
The history of Saxon coinage or Meissen-Saxon coinage comprises three major periods: the high medieval regional Pfennig period, the late medieval Pfennig period and the Thaler period, which ended with the introduction of the Mark in 1871/72. Rich silver deposits, which were discovered near Freiberg after the middle of the 12th century, helped Saxony to a leading position in German coinage.
The Roter Seufzer, also called the Seufzer and Leipziger Seufzer, was the popular name of the inferior six-pfennig coin minted in huge quantities in 1701 and 1702 by the Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, Augustus the Strong (1694–1733). The name of these coins was due to the loss that the population suffered as a result of the coins which had a high copper content.
The schilling was the name of a coin in various historical European states and which gave its name to the English shilling. The schilling was a former currency in many of the German-speaking states of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Hanseatic city states of Hamburg and Lübeck, the March of Brandenburg, and the Duchies of Bavaria, Mecklenburg, and Württemberg. It was also used in Switzerland and in Austria, where silver schillings were introduced as recently as 1923.
Saxony 
