The Hessian Schildgroschen (Hessische Schildgroschen) was a coin of the groschen type, based on the Meissen-Saxon Schildgroschen , one of the late medieval, Groschen period coins that was very similar to the Meissen Schildgroschen. It was also called the Kronichte Groschen ("crowned groschen") and Zweischildgroschen ("double Schildgroschen"). [1] [2]
Louis the Peaceful of Hesse (1413–1458), brother-in-law of Saxon Elector, Frederick the Gentle (1428–1464), as the first Landgrave of Hesse had the Schildgroschen minted with the Hessian lion based on the model of the Meissen Schildgroschen. Louis joined the Saxon coin reform in November 1436 and also had high-quality groschen minted that were valued at 20 to the Rhenish Gulden. [3] The large lion shield on his first groschen corresponds to the Schildiger Groschen of Frederick the Meek with the difference that a small crown can be seen above the large shield. The Schildgroschens minted from 1436 are therefore also called Kronichte groschen ("crowned groschen"). [4] [5] Subsequent crown groschen were coined by Louis I with crowns in the coin design, arranged in a quatrefoil around the lion's shield. [6]
The Schildgroschen of Louis the Frank (1458–1471), also known as the Zweischildgroschen (two-shield groschen), were minted based on the Meissen Pfahlschildgroschen .
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 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 into 12, but into in 10 pfennigs.
An Ephraimite was a debased coin part of whose silver content was replaced with copper. Ephraimites, as they came to be called, were issued under the authority of Frederick the Great of Prussia in the Duchy of Saxony and the Kingdom of Prussia from 1756 till 1763 during the Seven Years' War. The coins were spread by merchants and soldiers in Silesia, Bohemia, Poland and Courland and traded as if they were of official silver content. In return higher value foreign coins would be received, which could be used to pay the costs of army supply. By the end of 1762 Frederick the Great abandoned this policy. After the war the traditional content standards were restored.
Margaret of Austria, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Electress of Saxony from 1431 until 1464 by her marriage with the Wettin elector Frederick II. She was a sister of Emperor Frederick III.
The Weißpfennig was a form of silver groschen that was circulated in the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages. It was also known as an albus or a Rhenish groschen. It was minted from the second half of the 14th century onwards in the Lower Rhine region by the four Rhenish electors of the Holy Roman Empire, who set up a joint mint in 1385-86. It was intended for everyday use, whilst the gold Rhenish gulden of the same era was intended as a trade coin. Those minted in Mainz were inscribed on one side 'Mainzer Rad' and were also known as Raderalbus.
The Tympf was a low-grade silver coin used in Poland-Lithuania, Brandenburg-Prussia, and Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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.
A Schüsselpfennig, also Gehulchter Pfennig is so called due to the stamping technique which results in a concave, one-sided type of Pfennig coin. It was probably first minted in 1374 in the Palatinate. Small Schüsselpfennigs that had entered the Electorate of Saxony were referred to there as Näpfchenheller.
The Weckeler, also called a Weckelerpfennig, is a one-sided silver Palatine pfennig coin of the 14th and 15th century, which was also called the Wegkpfennig in the local dialect. It occurs both as a Schüsselpfennig and as a non-domed, planar coin. The pfennigs were given their contemporary name after their image, a lozenged coat of arms.
The Meissen groschen or broad groschen was a Meissen-Saxon silver coin of the 14th and 15th centuries and the regional currency of the Margraviate of Meissen in the Late Middle Ages. It was introduced by Margrave Frederick II of Meissen in 1338/39 and modelled on the Prague groschen.
From the Middle Ages to the Early modern period, to have minting rights was to have "the power to mint coins and to control currency within one's own dominion."
The Wechselthaler, also spelt Wechseltaler or Wechsel-Thaler, was minted in 1670 and 1671 in the Electorate of Saxony under Elector John George II (1656–1680) to the Wechselthaler or Burgundian thaler standard (861/1000 fineness). As the name suggests, the Wechselthaler and its subdivisions were intended as a currency to encourage Leipzig's trade with Hamburg and the Netherlands. The first coins from 1670 therefore bear the inscription WECHSELTHALER on the reverse. The Wechselthaler standard was only valid in Electoral Saxony in 1670 and 1671.
The Meissen gulden, abbreviation Mfl., was a Rhenish Gold Gulden that was established in Saxony in 1490 at a value of 21 groschen and which, from 1542 to 1838 became a coin of account of the same value.
Mintmaster marks are often the initials of the mintmaster of a mint or small symbols for example at the size of the letters on a coin inscription to denote the coins made under his direction. With his mark, the mintmaster assumed responsibility for ensuing the coins issued by his mint were in accordance with the regulations. Mintmaster marks were used as early as the time of bracteate coinage in the Holy Roman Empire, but these can only rarely be deciphered. All mintmaster marks since the beginning of the minting of Thalers have been identified.
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 Guter Groschen, also Gutergroschen or Gutegroschen, abbreviation Ggr., is name of the groschen coin that was valued at 1⁄24 of a Reichsthaler from the end of the 16th century. It was called a "good groschen" to distinguish it from the lighter Mariengroschen, which was only valued at 1⁄36 Reichsthaler. The term Guter Groschen remained common until the middle of the 19th century.
The Bauerngroschen, also Burgroschen, was a groschen minted in the Free Imperial City of Goslar from 1477 until at least 1490 and continued to circulate until the 16th century. On the obverse it depicts a coat of arms with an imperial eagle beneath a helmet with a crown and on the reverse Saints, Simon and Jude. The two apostles were thought by the people to be farmers due to the poor quality stamping of the coins, hence the name, Bauerngroschen.
From the Late Middle Ages the albus was a common currency in parts of the Holy Roman Empire, especially in the Rhineland. The name albus is Latin and means "white". Because of its higher silver content, this lighter coin differed in colour from the other inferior coins. This resulted in the names denarius albus, Weißpfennig or Rhenish groschen.
The Ewiger Pfennig or eternal penny was a coin of the regional pfennig period, which was minted until the late medieval groschen time. These coins are mostly of the Hohlpfennig or "hollow pfennig" type which, unlike bracteates, had to be exchanged regularly for a fee but were not subject to annual recall of coins in circulation, the Münzverruf.
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