Appendix V

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF GERMANY

The German Mint system inherited from that of Charlemagne the common features noticed already in the case of Florence, the Netherlands, and other countries, namely, the division of the silver libra into 20 solidi (schillingen), and of the solidus into 12 denarii (pfennige), so that 240 denarii = 1 libra. The solidus occurs (theoretically or in accompt) in both gold and silver. The gold solidus of the German system originally weighed less than the Frankish, which was 72 to the libra, while the German was 80 to the libra.

The ratio of gold to silver was 12:1, so that theoretically 1 pound silver = 1 oz. gold = 6-2/3 gold schilling.

In actual coins, 1 gold schilling = 3 silver schillingen = 36 pfennige.

Gradually this system was superseded by that of reckoning by the mark. The particular mark which obtained widest acceptance was the Cologne mark, which was thus subdivided--

Cologne mark = 8 Oz. = 16 Loth. = 64 Quintlein. = 256 Pfennige. = 512 Heller. = 4352 Eschen or Grain.

For the purpose of standard of alloy the mark was differently subdivided. Thus--

Gold alloy weight--

1 mark = 12 carats = 288 grs. (12 x 24).

Silver alloy weight--

1 mark = 16 loth = 288 grs. (16 x 18).

Subsequently, when the gold gulden began to be minted, and to displace in reckoning the gold solidi (6-2/3 to the oz.), a third system of reckoning by gulden, schillingen, and pfennige was adopted. But long before this had become general, the downward course of the pfennige had proceeded apace.

In 1255, in Swabia, the silver mark was minted into 660 pfennige; and in 1276, in Magdeburg, the mark of silver (15 loth fine) into 528 pfennige.

Originally heller and kreutzer were only alternative forms of the pfennige, not subdivisions of it (heller = Haellische pfennige); but the irregular course of depreciation established a difference in character.

In 1407, in the Bishopric of Wuerzburg, pfennige were minted at a tale of 400 to the mark and 6 loth fine; Heller 544 to the mark and 4 loth fine. Fifty years later, at Nuernberg, pfennige were being minted 512 to the mark and 5-1/4 loth fine (= 1560-8/21 to the mark of fine silver), and Heller at 704 to the mark and 3-1/2 loth fine (= 3218-2/7 to the mark fine).

The course of depreciation proceeded from the unregulated, irresponsible mintings of the small states, and from base financier craft. During the fourteenth century it proceeded apace, in spite of the attempts at a reform made by the Emperor Charles IV. In 1356 he prescribed the minting of the mark of silver into 31 schillingen 4 heller (or 376 hellers), but the ordinance remained ineffectual.

The depreciation against which it vainly strove was not confined to the lower species, such as pfennige and heller. The close of the thirteenth century had witnessed the introduction of a new large silver money, which for a time stood by the side of the schilling, and then gradually displaced it. The new coin--the groschen, minted in imitation of the gros Tournois of France--made its first appearance in Bohemia in 1296, when its tale was 63-1/2 to the mark, 15 loth fine. The same process of depreciation at once began to affect it, and during the fourteenth century the downward course of the coin was very rapid, especially in Saxony (see Tables infra., and pp. 30, 97). With the commencement of a gold coinage in the middle of the same century, a third element of confusion was introduced, and quickly the same diversity of weight, alloy, and type began to prevail as in the silver coinage (see Table of the depreciation of the gold gulden, infra., and pp. 31, 98).

The Reichstag, which met at Nuernberg in 1438, found itself driven to record, in simple terms, the right of everybody who could mint to do so according to what standard of fineness and weight he pleased, "seeing the impossibility of a common standard and weight."

The close of the century witnessed the introduction of the last of these numerous confusing elements, but one which was to become of prime importance in the history of German currency, namely, the thaler. In its first form it was intended as the silver equivalent of the gold gulden, being minted 8 to the mark (i.e. 1 oz. weight per piece), and of fine (or 16 loth) silver. It received the name gulden groschen when first coined by Archduke Sigismund of Austria in 1484; but in the sixteenth century, on account of its great manufacture in Bohemia, it became known as the Joachims thaler (or Schlicken thaler, or Loewen thaler). The subsequent depreciation of the thaler, which came as a matter of course, was very unequal in the different circles, being most strongly marked in Saxony.

By the first of the Imperial Mint Ordinances, which will be spoken of immediately, the weight of this piece was still retained at 1 oz., but the standard was reduced to 15 loth fine. In 1549 the Elector Maurice fixed the standard at 14 loth 8 grs. fine, while still retaining the tale of 8 to the mark.

The second Imperial Mint Ordinance of 1551 was constructed as a double basis--

1. Of the gulden groschen (i.e. thaler) = 1 gold gulden = 72 kr.

2. Of the gulden groschen (i.e. thaler) = 1 gold gulden = 60 kr.

The tale was altered from 8 to 7-1/2 to the mark, but the standard was lowered still further to 14 loth 2 grs. fine (= 8-120/254 to the mark of fine silver). But in the accompanying tariff the actual specie thaler-piece was set at 22 groschen, or 66 kreutzers.

The third Imperial Mint Ordinance established an important difference from this system. The actual thaler or silver gulden (= 72 kreutzers) was ordered to be discontinued, and no more minted, and a different basis adopted of silver Reichs guldens = 60 kreutzers, at a tale of 9-1/2 to the mark, 14 loth 16 grs. fine.

This intended exclusion of the thaler, however, proved quite ineffectual. Protestations were raised against it, and in the Reichstag at Augsburg the minting of the thaler was again authorised--8 to the mark, 14 loth 4 grs. fine.

The immediately succeeding movement of the thaler is given in the text (see Table, p. 103).

Further than, as above, it is out of the question in so brief a resume to specify the minuter confusions and conflicting variations of the German monetary system at the opening of the sixteenth century. During the course of that century three separate attempts were made to establish an imperial system that should displace all minor ones, and thus remedy the confusion.

The first attempt was made by Charles V. in his Imperial Mint Ordinance issued at Esslingen on the 10th November 1524.

The basis of this ordinance was the mark of silver = 8 florins 10 schillings 8 heller, and the pieces ordained were--

1. A silver piece = 1 Rhenish gold gulden, 8 to the mark, 15 loth fine (see the account of the thaler above).

2. Orth, 32 to mark, 15 loth fine.

3. Zaehender = 1/10 Rhenish gold gulden, 80 to mark, 15 loth fine.

4. Groschen = 1/21 Rhenish gold gulden, 12 loth fine, 136 to mark.

Besides these coins, the ordinance recognised temporarily a whole series of then-current pfennige. Thus--

Strasburg pfennige, . 126 to the gulden. Wuertemberg " . 168 " Rappen " . 157-1/2 " Rhenish " . 210 " Saxon " . 252 " Raeder " . 312 "

As explained in the text (p. 96), this ordinance came nowhere into observance, and twenty-nine years later Charles V. issued his second Imperial Ordinance at the Reichstag of Augsburg (1551).

The system then attempted to be instituted was based on a mark of fine silver = 10 florins 12-1/2 kreutzers but in denomination a double system was employed--

1. Gold gulden = 60 kr.

2. {Gold gulden } = 72 " {Gulden groschen}

1. The Reichs gulden (= 1 gold gulden = 72 kreutzers) was prescribed thus--7-1/2 to the mark, 14 loth 2 grs. fine (see account of thaler, supra).

2. The kreutzer-piece was prescribed--237 to the mark, 6 loth 1 gr. fine (= 626-3/4 to the mark of fine silver).

3. The groschen (= 1/24 Reichs gulden)--94-1/2 to the mark, 7 loth 5 grs. fine (= 207-99/131 to the mark of fine silver).

Accompanying these regulations, however, there was a tariff as before, but more comprehensive, for the temporary recognition of a miscellaneous mass of coins of the Rhine, the Netherlands, Lower Saxony, Higher Saxony, Franconia, and the mark of Brandenburg. Thus--

GROSCHEN.

Reichs groschen, at 12 pfennige, 24 = 1 gulden, at 72 kreutzers. Groschen of Misnia and Franconia, at 12 pfennige, 25-1/5 = " " Rhenish albi and Netherland stuyvers, at 8 pfennige, 28 = " " Luebeck schellingen, at 12 pfennige, 28-4/5 = " " Groschen of the Mark, at 8 pfennige, 38-2/5 = " "

PFENNIGE.

Of the Tyrol, 300 = 1 gulden, at 60 kreutzers. Of Luebeck, 288 = " " Of the mark of Brandenburg, 256 = " " Of Saxony and Franconia, 252 = " " Of Austria, 4 loth fine, 649 to the mark, 240 = " " Of Bavaria, 210 = " " Of the Rhine, 186-2/3 = " " Of Swabia, 180 = " " Of Wuertemberg, 168 = " " Rappen, 250 = " " Of Strasburg, 120 = " "

This ordinance obtained no more vogue than its predecessor, the main cause of its slighting being the dissatisfaction of the powers of Upper and Lower Saxony at the tariffing of the thaler, which they declared to be too low, and accordingly advanced (1555) to 24 groschen (= 32 Marien groschen = 72 kreutzers).

The third Imperial Ordinance was issued at Augsburg on the 19th August 1559. Practically the same standard and basis was maintained as in the preceding ordinance, the mark of fine silver being coined into 10 florins 13-1/2 kreutzers in the larger species.

But in the detail of these larger species an important difference was established.

The silver gulden had hitherto been equal to the gold gulden. The actual specie silver gulden in pieces of the time was nominally equivalent to 60 kreutzers. But since 1551 there had been minted a Reichs gulden in specie equal to 72 kreutzers.

In order to mark the difference it was determined to coin in future only silver gulden = 60 kreutzers, while the gold gulden was put at 75 kreutzers.

The specie authorised by this third Imperial Ordinance therefore were--

1. Gold gulden, 72 to mark, 18-1/2-carat fine, to equal 75 kreutzers.

2. Silver Reichs gulden, 9-1/2 to the mark, 14 loth 16 grs. fine, to equal 60 kreutzers.

3. Thaler, or 72 kreutzers silver gulden, to be discontinued.

4. Kreutzer, to equal 1/80 gulden, 243-1/2 to the mark, 6 loth 4 grs. fine (= 626-1/7 to the mark fine).

5. Reichs groschen, to equal 1/24 gulden, 8 loth fine, 108-1/2 to the mark; and a few other species.

The lower denominations (pfennige and heller) were minted on the basis of the mark = 11 florins 5 kreutzers.

Almost immediately, protestations were raised against this ordinance, especially by the Lower Westphalian Circle, and it remained quite inoperative. The succeeding Reichstag at Augsburg again authorised the issue of the thaler (8 to the mark, 14 loth 4 grs. fine, so that the fine mark = 10 florins 12 kreutzers).

As late as the Reichstag of Regensburg (1594) desultory attempts were made to establish a uniform system, but all practical idea of it had long ceased, and the regulation of Mint matters henceforth fell into the separate jurisdiction of the various Circles. The Lower Circles went their own way at their meetings at Cologne (1566, 1572, and 1582), as did the Upper Circles in their separate meetings in 1564 and 1572 at Noerdlingen and Nuernberg.

At its meeting at Lueneburg in 1568 the Lower Saxon Circle adopted a system not far removed from that of the third Imperial Mint Ordinance of 1559. The mark of fine silver was to be coined into 10 florins 43-11/67 kreutzers, and the thaler was fixed at 24 groschen (=72 kreutzers).

Underneath this separately concerted action of the Circles, however, licence and disorder prevailed in the issue of smaller pieces of a grossly depreciated nature, before which the good heavy silver species disappeared, leaving the greatest confusion, together with a continual rise in prices or fall in the standard. The imperial proclamations of 20th January and 24th September 1571 were of no avail against this process, and by 1585 the mercantile rate had risen, thus--

Philipps thaler = 82 kr. Reichs thaler = 74 " Gulden groschen = 64 "

In 1596 the Imperial Commissioners at Frankfort provisionally recognised as a tariff--

Gold gulden = 80 kr. Reichs thaler = 72 " Gulden groschen or thaler = 64 "

But later in the same year these authorities at Strasburg set the Reichs thaler at 84 kreutzers (mark of fine silver = 12 fl. 36 kr.). As the disorder of the Kipper und Wipper Zeit broke over the Empire, in consequence of the process of wilful depreciation, the Emperor made several public attempts at its arrestation by letters addressed to the various Circles separately (1601, 1603, and 1607). Meanwhile, the Reichs thaler had risen to 90 kreutzers (mark of fine silver = 13-1/2 florins).

According to this valuation the gulden of 1551 of 72 kreutzers was set at 94 kreutzers, and the gulden of 1559 of 60 kreutzers was set at 79 kreutzers.

It was on this latter basis (of the 60-kreutzer Reichs gulden of 1559 = 79 kreutzers) that was founded the later Misnian, Franconian, and Kammer-Gerichts currencies of the eighteenth century, which did not materially differ amongst themselves, thus--

Misnian gulden @ 31 groschen (= 78-2/3 kr.) Franconian gulden @ 20 batzen (= 80 kr.) Kammer-Gerichts gulden = 78 kr. 2-10/23 thalers.

In 1623 the Higher Circles adopted by their Mint determination the following system:--

Thaler = 90 kr. Gold gulden = 1 fl. 44 kr. Ducat = 2 fl. 20 "

In the smaller pieces the basis was the mark of fine silver = 16-florin = 10-2/3 thaler.

For example--

1/2-Batzen, 7 loth fine, 210 to the mark. Kreutzer, 5 " 300 " 3-Heller piece, 3-1/2 " 560 " Pfennige, 3 " 720 "

To this system the Lower Circles acceded, in the same year 1623, after an ineffectual attempt to enforce the interim standard of 1596, which had set the Reichs thaler at 21 batzen or 84 kreutzers.

From this united action of the Upper and Lower Circles Saxony stood apart, following quite a different course. While elsewhere the thaler was raised, here they lowered it to its old equivalence of 24 groschen. In actual practice, however, the step proved only half effective, as the depreciated thaler was persistently minted. There resulted accordingly, in Saxony, a double system of "good" and "bad" money, with a difference of something like 25 per cent. between them. To increase the confusion there was for a time a difference between the practice of Lower Saxony and Electoral Saxony. The former, Lower Saxony, had in 1610 adopted the following system:--

Reichs thaler = 28 groschen. Reichs gulden thaler of 1559 = 24 " Philipps thaler = 30-2/3 " Silver groschen, = 234 to the mark, 14 loth, 4 grs. fine. " schillingen, 306 " (So that the mark of fine silver = 12 fl. 9 kr.)

Finding it impossible to maintain this system, they altered it in 1617, and finally in 1622 conformed with Higher Saxony, setting the Reichs thaler at 24 silver groschens.

As settled in this and the following year, the system of Electoral and Lower Saxony was as follows:--

Reichs thaler = 24 gulden groschen. Gulden thaler of 1559 = 21 " Philipps thaler and gold gulden = 30 " Ducat = 36 "

Contemporaneously (1623), the Brandenburg system was as follows:--

Reichs thaler = 24 good groschen. Gold gulden = 27 " Ducat = 38 "

Through the remaining period of the Thirty Years' War very little is on record with regard to the German Mint system. The closing period of the strife was marked by such complaints as to excess of depreciated small specie as had prevailed in 1620, bringing with it a further enhancement of the price of the larger silver specie. In 1665, accordingly, the three Higher Circles, Franconia, Bavaria, and Swabia met together. They found on a trial that the mark of fine silver was selling commercially at from 14 florins 15 kreutzers to 14 florins 20 kreutzers, and that it was impossible to mint the larger silver specie unless the Reichs thaler were set at 96 kreutzers. This would raise the mark of fine silver to 14 florins 24 kreutzers. At the same time it was resolved to declare the ducat at 3 florins (mark of fine gold = 203 florins 49 kreutzers, 3-31/71 pfennige), the ratio being accordingly changed from 15 to 14-1/8.

In 1667 this scheme was provisionally adopted in comitiis. From this scheme Saxony and Brandenburg held off, maintaining that the advance of the Reichs thaler was not sufficient. They accordingly, in the same year, adopted the so-called Zinnaische standard, setting the Reichs thaler at 1 florin 45 kreutzers (105 kreutzers), equal to 18 good groschens (mark of fine silver = 10-1/2 thalers, or 15 florins 45 kreutzers).

The enactment of this system gave rise to a new species of heavy silver coins:--

Guldener = 2/3 thaler. " = 60 kr. " = 16 good groschen. " = 32 schillingen.

Two years later, 1669, the three Higher Circles determined, as a measure of protection to their gold, to alter the ratio, and for that purpose to reduce the thaler from 96 to 90 kreutzers again, while leaving the ducat = 3 florins, and the gold gulden = 2 florins 20 kreutzers.

The mark of fine silver was thus = 3 fl. 30 kr. " gold " = 204 " (Ratio = 15-1/9.)

The divisional coins were to be minted on a graduated and enhanced standard. Thus--

6-kr. and 4-kr. pieces (Batzen), at 13 fl. 55 kr. to the mark fine. Groschen (3 kr.) at 14 fl. 10 " " Kreutzer at 14 fl. 40 " " Pfennige (3760 to the mark fine), at 15 fl. 43 " "

There were thus three contemporary systems in Germany in 1670--

1. Reichs thaler, at 90 kr., mark of fine silver at 13 fl. 30 kr. 2. " at 96 " " at 14 fl. 24 " 3. " at 105 " " at 15 fl. 45 "

The three Upper Circles, however, could not maintain their last enacted order. In spite of its enactment, the Reichs thaler rose again to 96 kreutzers, and the ducat to 3 florins 12 kreutzers.

The confusion and general harm which resulted has been referred to in the text (p. 199), and it is to be regarded simply as a stop-gap at any cost that the measure proposed by the Three Circles of fixing the thaler at 90 kreutzers was carried through the Reichstag of 1680.

From this system, however, the Emperor, with Bavaria and Salzburg, stood apart, putting the Reichs thaler at 96 kreutzers; and ten years later, 1690, Saxony, Brandenburg, and Brunswick and Lueneburg established again a distinct system--the well-known Leipzig standard.

By this system the Reichs thaler was set at 120 kreutzers or 2 florins (mark of fine silver = 12 thalers 18 gulden).

In a few years this valuation of the thaler prevailed all over the Empire. Sweden acceded to it in 1690, with Bremen and Pomerania, Mainz, Treves, the Palatinate, and Frankfort, and three years later the Higher Circles followed suite. Contemporaneously the gold gulden was advanced to 2 florins 56 kreutzers.

Although the Emperor subsequently joined in the recognition of the Leipzig standard, it did not remain effective in actual practice, and while no further advance of the thaler was officially recognised, the lower denominations were again depreciated by the Mint competition of the various states, 10-kreutzer pieces being minted on a standard of 20-1/3 to 21-1/3 gulden to the mark fine. In 1736 the question of a standard was again brought before the Reichstag; and on the 10th September 1738 it was resolved to adopt the Leipzig standard for the Empire, with the Reichs thaler = 2 florins, ducat = 4 florins, gold gulden = 3 florins; while, for the divisional coins, a basis of fine mark silver = 13-2/3 thaler was enacted.

This system, if it endured at all, did so only for a couple of years. The outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession brought with it a new period of conflicting depreciations, and at the close Austria took a decisive step. Without taking any measure to secure the co-operation of the Circles, or any part of the Empire, the Emperor Francis I. adopted the 20-gulden standard (the mark of fine silver = 13-1/3 Reichs thalers = 20 guldens). It was at once adopted in Hungary and Bohemia, the territories of Maria Theresa.

Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was the first to adopt this Austrian standard, at Dresden in 1750, though with a very slight variation (putting the mark of fine silver at 13-3/8 Reichs thalers instead of 13-1/3). In 1753 Bavaria also acceded to the 20-gulden standard, after a brief attempt (1747-1753) at the erection of a 24-gulden standard, and in the following year the Austrian system was adopted by Brandenburg-Anspach, Bayreuth, Wuerzburg, and Nuernberg.

The Convention of Vienna (21st September 1753) which formally established this Austrian or Convention standard (20-gulden system), prescribed as follows:--

1. Gold--

Mark of fine gold = 283 fl. 5 kr. 4-47/74 pf. Chief coin = Reichs ducat, 67 to the mark (Cologne mark), 23 kr. 8 grs. fine (= 67-67/71 to the mark of fine gold), to = 4 fl. 10 kr.; the Holland and other ducats then current in Germany being tariffed at 4 fl. 7-1/2 kr.

2. Silver--

Mark of fine silver = 20 guldens for all manner of silver coins down to the groschen or 3-kreutzer piece (ratio of silver to gold 1:14-11/21).

The silver coins authorised were--

1. Thaler (specie or convention thaler = 2 fl.), 10 to the mark, 13-1/3 loth fine.

2. Gulden (or 1/2-specie thaler), 20 to the mark, 13-1/3 loth fine.

3. 30-kreutzer piece (1/2-gulden or 1/4-specie thaler), 40 to the mark, 13-1/3 loth fine.

4. 17-kreutzer piece, 70-10/17 to the mark, 8-2/3 loth fine (only for Austria).

5. 7-kreutzer piece, 171-3/7 to the mark, 6-13/18 loth fine (only for Austria).

6. 20-kreutzer piece, 60 to the mark, 9-1/3 loth fine.

7. 10-kreutzer piece, 120 to the mark, 8 loth fine.

8. Groschen or 3-kreutzer piece, 400 to the mark, 5-1/2 loth fine.

For the lowest denomination of divisional coins, half-groschen, kreutzer, and pfennige, quite varying standards were permitted, according to the piece or locality, namely, from 20-3/4 to 33 guldens to the Koln mark.

For tolerated coin the following tariff was fixed:--

GOLD

Bavarian maxd'or and double gold gulden = 6 fl. 8 kr. Bavarian carolus or 3-gold gulden piece = 9 fl. 12 kr. Kremnitz ducat } Florentine gigliati} = 4 fl. 12 kr. Venetian zecchino }

All other gold coins to be taken as bullion at a value of 280 fl. for the Cologne mark of fine gold. All silver species of other states below the value of 1/2 florin forbidden.

Such was the Convention System or Standard, which, by the accession of the Electoral Palatinate, and of Salzburg might be practically regarded as the Imperial system.

This Convention system, and these Convention or specie thaler and other coins, remained the Mint system of Austria until modern times.

The changes which were made in the Austrian system by the Vienna Convention of 1857 have been already detailed (see text, pp. 209-12).

Ten years later Austria withdrew from this monetary treaty (in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Berlin, 13th June 1867), with the intention of acceding to the contemplated French currency treaty of 31st July 1867. She ceased the coining of German gold crowns and half-crowns, and instead minted 4 and 1-ducat pieces. From 1870 onwards she coined, in conjunction with Hungary, 8 and 4-florin gold pieces, the former 77-1/2 to the pound, .900 fine.

By a decree of 6th November 1870, the 8-florin gold piece was tariffed at 8.10 florin. At this it was made legal tender, on the basis of the French ratio of 15-1/2; but it was practically nothing more than commercial money, like the preceding crowns and half-crowns of the convention of 1857. The standard of Austria remained nominally the silver florin of the convention of 1857, although in actual practice the currency was paper. In March 1879 the Austrian and Hungarian Mints were closed to the coinage of silver on private account, preparatory to a reorganisation of the Austrian monetary system on a gold basis. This reform was decided on in 1892, and briefly prescribed as follows:--

The monetary unit is the krone or crown = 2 florins; but to be minted in 10 and 20-crown pieces, 1 kilogramme pure gold = 3280 crowns, .900 fine. The crown is divided into 100 hellers.

For the purpose of basing the new system on gold, a ratio between the old silver and the new gold standard of 1:18.22 was adopted, the existing florin being declared = 2 francs 10 cents.

Silver is fractional money only, the old florins passing as 2 crowns.

South Germany.

From the Convention or 20-gulden system (the old Austrian system) sprang the accompanying system, the 24-gulden standard, which was nothing but the 20-gulden or Austrian standard under another name. Very soon after the establishment of the Convention standard, the Elector of Bavaria perceived or concluded that the continuance of that standard in his dominions would produce disorders so long as the other circles did not accede to the convention. He accordingly arrested the execution of the convention in his territories, and adopted a provisional arrangement. At the end, however, of a long correspondence with the Austrian state (Maria Theresa), an agreement was made that he should conform his coins in standard and weight to the convention system, but should be permitted to tariff them at one-fifth higher rate, putting i.e. the specie thaler not at 2 florins but at 2 florins 24 kr., and so on (the mark of silver being consequently worth 24 guldens, instead of, as in the Austrian or Convention system, 20 guldens).

This was the origin of the 24-gulden standard, which gradually spread over the whole of South Germany, with the exception of Austria. The three Upper Circles acceded in 1761, Salzburg in 1765, and in the following year the Rhenish powers, Mainz, Treves, the Palatinate, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Frankfort.

From this 24-gulden standard sprang towards the close of the eighteenth century a later development, due to the circulation of the kronen thaler or Brabant thaler, which, from 1755 onwards, Austria minted for her Netherland possessions. The Rhenish provinces drove this piece above its Mint rate, setting it at 2 florins 42 kreutzers, although in the 24-gulden standard its value was only 2 florins 38-10/19 kreutzers. This implied a standard of 24-6/11 guldens to the mark of fine silver, and gradually, about the beginning of the present century, Bavaria, Wuertemberg, and Nassau minted convention thalers on the same footing. Baden, Hesse, and Saxe-Coburg followed suit in their minting of kronen thalers until, by the Mint Convention of the South German states in 1837, the new standard (the 24-1/2-gulden standard) was formally recognised as the South German standard. In this convention Austria had no part.

The standard here detailed, the 24-1/2-gulden or South German standard, was assimilated to the Prussian system in the Dresden Convention, 1838 (see text, p. 205), and in that connection remained intact until the developments of modern times detailed in the text, p. 215.

Prussia.

The Prussian monetary system, as a separate identity, took its rise in that same period which witnessed the independent action of Austria, above detailed. Its builder was Frederick the Great, who, for this purpose, called in the advice of a Dutch merchant, Philip Graumann. It is to this latter that is due the introduction in 1750 of the 21-gulden or 14-thaler standard, otherwise known as the Graumann standard.

Thaler = 10-1/2 to the mark, 12 loth fine (mark of fine silver therefore = 14 thalers or 21 guldens).

Thaler = 24 groschens = 288 pfennige (24 x 12).

Groschen and 1/2-groschen minted as divisional coins (= 1/24 and 1/48 thaler) of billon.

After the temporary debasement during the Seven Years' War, the Graumann standard was re-established in 1764, but with two differences.

1. The minting of 1/2 and 1/4-thaler pieces of 12 loth silver was ordered to cease from 1766, and to be replaced from 1764 by--

1/3 thaler, 10-2/3 loth, 28 to the mark } 1/6 " 8-1/3 " 43-3/4 " } 14-thaler standard. 1/12 " 6 " 63 " }

2. The billon divisional money (minted primarily for the Provincial States of Prussia) was greatly increased in the amount of its issue, but depreciated in standard on a varying scale according to the districts intended, Silesia, Cleves, etc., reaching in some cases even to an 18-thaler standard. Up to 1772 there was issued in these depreciated single and double-groschen pieces an amount equal to 8,979,189 thalers. Subsequently, the standard of divisional money was reduced to 21 thalers, and at this rate, up to the death of Frederick in 1786, there were issued in 6-pfennige and other pieces 12,586,863 thalers' worth. From this time onward, up to the decrying of this depreciated divisional money at the peace of Tilsit, there was minted a matter of 29,628,807 thaler worth.

The total, therefore, was 42,215,670 thalers; the pure silver content of which was only 28,243,780 thalers.

By the publicandum of 4th May 1808, and the edict of 13th December 1811, the value of this mass was reduced, the coins being set at from two-thirds to four-sevenths of their normal value, so that--

42 groschens } } = 1 good thaler. 52-1/2 " (Bohemia) }

but it was not till the law of 30th September 1821 that a recoinage could be accomplished.

The provisions of this law of 1821 were as follows:--

1. Gold--

Friedrichs d'or as hitherto, viz. 35 to the mark = 5 thalers.

4. Silver--

Prussian thaler as before, 10-1/2 to the mark gross (= 14 to the mark fine).

7. Thaler to be subdivided into 30 groschens 12 pfennige; the latter tenderable only up to 1/6 thaler.

8. Silver groschen = 106-2/3 to the mark, 2/9 silver (= 16 thalers to the mark fine).

By the law of 1821, this standard came into operation in 1626, and it remained the standard for Prussia and her provinces until the developments in modern times, specified in the text, p. 215.

At the convention of Dresden, 30th July 1838, the Prussian 14-thaler or 21-gulden standard was adopted, along with the South German or 24-1/2-gulden standard as the standard of the German Zollverein.

Subsequent to that date the Prussian system was adopted by Hanover, Brunswick, Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, Waldeck, Lippe, etc.

PRUSSIAN MINTINGS FROM THE REFORM OF 1809 TO THE END OF 1836.

Thaler pieces 70,850,560 1/6 " " 16,942,307 ---------- 87,792,867 Full-weighted silver previously in currency 95,709,282 ----------- Total of full-weighted silver 183,502,149 ===========

One-third pieces, minted 1809-11 237,151 Billon divisional money, minted 1821-36 2,949,760 ----------- Thalers 186,689,060

Withdrawn since 1809-36--

1/5-thaler pieces 319,522 thalers 1/12 " " 135,504 " 1/15 " " 428,256 " ------- 883,282 ----------- 185,805,778 ===========

The gold coinage had, in Prussia, little relativity to the silver.

From 1750 this state minted double, single, and half-pistoles, under the name, Friedrichs d'or, on the basis of 35 to the mark, 21-3/4 carats fine, for the single piece.

From 1770 the standard was lowered to 21-2/3 carats, and at this it was confirmed by the law of September 1821.

The ascertained mintings of these were as follows:--

1764-86 29,599,482-1/2 thalers. 1787-1808 26,515,490 " 1809-36 13,922,960 "

But long before 1840 almost the whole of this amount had disappeared or been melted down.

In state payments the Friedrich d'or was taken at 5 thalers, but in ordinary commerce up to 1783 they were taken at 5-1/4 thalers, a tariff which gradually rose to 5-1/3 and 5-1/2 thalers. The purchases of gold which the Bank of England made in 1816, in order to its resumption of cash payments, drove the pistole or Friedrich d'or up to 5-3/4 thalers, and it was not for ten years that it fell back to 5-2/3 thalers.

Although paid by Government at this latter, and so continued till the Mint Convention of 1853, it was only as a mercantile commodity. The only legal standard and tender in Prussia was silver (the silver thaler), to which gold was varyingly ratable, according to market fluctuations.

The Prussian system thus described remained in force until the Vienna coinage treaty of 24th January 1857, the details of which have been already stated in the text. The resolutions of that treaty were adopted by the Prussian Mint law of 4th May 1857, as follows:--

1. The Prussian pound of 500 grms., decimally divided, is substituted for the previous standard of 233.865 grms.

2-6. The thaler continues the regular silver coin of the country--

Thirty thalers to the pound of pure silver, .900 fine.

Thus the 30-thaler standard to take the place of the old 14-thaler standard, but the two to be treated as the same.

The thaler to be coinable as a convention thaler or Vereins thaler; thaler to be subdivided into 30 groschens, at 12 pfennige.

7-8. Divisional coin limited in tender to 1/6 thaler as before, and both minted on a 34-1/2-thaler standard.

11. Gold commercial coins shall be coined under the names of "crown" and "half-crown," in the form and with the attribution of confederation coins, viz.--

1. Crown, 1/50 of a pound of fine gold (.900 fine). 2. Half-crown, 1/100 " "

These coins shall be the special gold coins of the country, and other gold pieces shall not henceforth be coined.

14. The silver value of the gold coinage shall be entirely fixed by the relation of the supply to the demand, and no one is bound to take gold in the place of the legal silver value of the country.

16. Our Finance Minister is empowered to settle the price at which the crown and the half-crown shall be taken into our pay offices.

The established rate, as well as the permission to receive crowns and half-crowns instead of silver coins in our offices, may at any time be revoked or restricted by the publication of a proclamation by our Finance Minister.

19. Our Minister of State is also authorised to fix the value above which foreign gold and silver coins must not be offered or given in payment in ordinary transactions.

The subsequent course of events and the existing Prussian (Imperial German) system have been already specified (see text, p. 215).

Hamburg.

The origin of the common Mint standard of Luebeck and Hamburg was the division of the mark into 16 schillingen, and each schilling into 12 pfennige. The metal mark and the Mint mark soon parted company, and by the time of the treaty of 1255 the two states agreed to mint the mark of fine silver into 38 schillingen 10 pfennige (= 2 marks 6 schillingen 10 pfennige).

The Wendish standard was established by the adoption in 1325 of the Hamburg-Luebeck treaty by Wismar and Lueneburg.

In 1433 this Wendish standard adopted the Cologne mark as its weight basis.

COURSE OF DEPRECIATION OF THE STANDARD.

Mks. Sch. Pf. 1226--The mark of fine silver coined into 2 2 0 1255 " " " 2 9 5 1293 " " " 2 9 8 1305 " " " 2 15 5 1325 " " " 3 0 9 1353 " " " 3 10 11 1375 " " " 4 3 0 1398 " " " 4 15 2 1403 " " " 5 1 11 1411 " " " 5 12 5 1430 " " " 8 8 0 1450 " " " 9 12 2 1461 " " " 11 8 10 1506 " " " 12 8 0

The Mint Union of the Wendish states continued until the beginning of the seventeenth century, when it expired unperceived. The experience of Hamburg in the Kipper und Wipper Zeit, with its resultant establishment of the Hamburg Bank, has been already referred to.

In 1667 Hamburg freely joined the Zinnaische standard, according to which the mark of fine silver was coined into 10-1/2 thalers (= 31 marks 8 schillingen, Hamburger courant). She, however, hesitated to follow the German system in its change over to the Leipzig standard in 1690, and after an interim period of weltering disorder, during which the standard varied from 30 marks to 34 marks 8 schillingen per mark fine of silver, the State adopted in 1725 the so-called Luebeck standard (1 mark fine = 34 marks), as the Hamburger courant.

This standard had existed in Holstein from 1693. In 1788 and 1789 long and serious debates were held in Hamburg on the question of the substitution of a lighter (or lower) standard. And seventy years later a change in such direction had practically effected itself, although not legislatively recognised. By 1850 the actual currency of the state consisted mostly of silver coins of the Prussian (or 14-thaler) standard, circulating at an equivalence of 1 thaler = 2-1/2 marks Hamburger courant (= 40 schillingen), an equivalence implying a standard of 35 marks courant to the mark of fine silver.

Legally, however, the 34-marks standard remained in force until the coalescence of the free state of Hamburg with the new imperial German system in our own days.

The question of the agio of the Hamburg banco system belongs rather to the history of banking.

German Standards: Silver.

In brief resume, the historic standards of the German monetary system have been as follows:--Nos. 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 representing the systems in existence at the time of the projection of the great currency reform of 1871:--

1. Old imperial standard of 1559, based on the Reichs Muenz ordnung of Ferdinand I., mark of fine silver = 8 thalers. Altered in 1622, so that 9 thalers 2 grs. = 1 mark fine silver.

2. The Zinnaische standard, agreed upon by Saxony and Brandenburg at Zinna, 1667, 1 mark fine silver = 10-1/2 thaler = 15-3/4 guldens.

3. Leipzig standard or Torgau standard (see text, p. 200), mark fine silver = 18 gulden.

4. The Prussian standard, 14 thalers or 21 guldens = 1 mark fine silver (see above, p. 379).

5. Convention standard or Austrian standard, mark fine silver = 20 gulden (see above, p. 375).

6. The 24-gulden standard or new imperial standard of 1766 (see above, p. 377), 1 mark fine silver = 24 guldens.

7. The 24-1/2, or South German standard (see above, p. 378), 1 mark fine silver = 24-1/2 guldens.

8. The kronen-thaler standard, existing more or less between 1808 and 1837 in such of the states of the South as had adopted the minting of the Brabant or crown thaler-piece, 9.18 to a mark fine, and issued at 2 guldens 42 kreutzers, representing a 24-4/5-gulden standard. It was this system which called into being the 24-1/2-gulden standard, by the evolution of which it was itself completely superseded.

9. Wechselzahlung, or Wechselgeld, the bank reckoning system of Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 20-4/55 guldens = 13-21/55 thalers = 1 mark fine silver. The standard was, therefore, 4/11 lighter than the 20-gulden or convention standard.

10. The Augsburg girogeld, a system which existed till 1st July 1845, and in which the exchange with Amsterdam and Hamburg was expressed. Mark of fine silver = 15-95/127 gulden giro (100 gulden giro = 127 gulden of the convention standard). This system was displaced by the introduction of the 24-1/2-gulden standard.

11. The Luebeck courant (or Hamburg courant, as described above), the mark of fine silver = 11-1/3 thaler, or 34 marks.

12. Hamburg banco, the system of reckoning of the Hamburg Bank. From 1790 the bank reckoned the mark of fine silver = 9-5/24 thaler-banco, or 27-5/8 mark-banco. The issue rate was, however, 9-1/4 thaler, or 27-3/4 mark-banco, the slight premium simply covering the expenses of the bank. In 1846 this difference was abolished, the mark of fine silver both for receipt and disbursement being reckoned at 27-3/4 marks (27 marks 12 schillings). The Hamburg banco was, therefore, appreciated above the Hamburg courant by a matter of 22.5225 per cent.

13. The Schleswig-Holstein courant, mark of fine silver = 11-9/16 thaler, or 34-11/16 marks.

Gold Standards.

1. Imperial or ducat standard. The Imperial Mint Ordinance of 1559 contains the first mention of the ducat in German legislation, prescribing it 67 to the mark, 23-1/2-carat fine. Subsequently the standard varied slightly. Austria minted them 23 carat 8 grs. for herself (kaiserlichen), at 23 carat 9 grs. for Hungary (kremnitzer). The other German states approximated between a 23-carat 6 grs. and a 23-carat 8 grs. standard. Baden struck ducats 22 carat 6 grs. fine, 63.697 to the mark.

2. The Pistole standard (Friedrichs d'or, August d'or, Wilhelms d'or, Carls d'or, or generally, Louis d'or), mostly in the Northern States of Denmark, mostly 35-1/6 to the mark, 21-1/2 carats fine, though with considerable variations (e.g. the Saxon august d'or, 35 to the mark, 21 carats 8 grs. fine. In Bremen this was the legal currency, the louis d'or being taken at 5 thalers at 72 groot, each groot at 5 schwaren). For a considerable period, far into the present century, the merchants of Mecklenburg, Hanover, and Brunswick kept their accounts in gold pistoles (= 5 thalers). Prussia (as above, p. 382) fixed the pistole at 5-2/3 thalers, but elsewhere it had a varying (mercantile) equivalence.

3. The gold gulden standard. The last of the three Imperial Mint Ordinances (1559) prescribed gold gulden 72 to the mark, 18-1/2 carat fine. They continued to be coined in Southern German states and in Hanover up to the middle of the eighteenth century.

TABLE OF THE GOLD COINS OF GERMANY--GULDEN, DUCAT, AND FRIEDRICHS D'OR.

+--------------------+---------+---------------------+---------------------+ | | Tale | | Value of the Piece | | | to the | | as expressed in | | Year. | Cologne | Standard. | Coin of the | | | Mark. | | 20-Florin Standard. | +--------------------+---------+---------------------+---------------------+ | | | Kar. Grs. | Fl. Kr. Pfge. | |1252-- | | | | | Florentine florin | | | | | or gold gulden | | | | | (64 to the | | | | | Florence mark) | 44-3/8 | 24 0 | 6 22 3-405/2911 | | | | | | |1371-- | | | | | Gold gulden of | | | | | Cune, Archbishop | | | | | of Treves, | | | | | Wenceslaus of | | | | | Bohemia | 66 | 23 0 | 4 6 2-434/781 | | | |(and 1 0 of silver)| | | | | | | |1386 and 1399-- | | | | | Gold gulden of the | | | | | Rhenish Princes. | | | | | Adopted by Rupert | | | | | II. in 1402 | 66 | 22 6 | 4 1 1-85/781 | | | |(and 1 6 of silver)| | |1409-- | | | | | The gulden of the | | | | | three Spiritual | | | | | Electors (adopted | | | | | in the same year | | | | | by the Netherlands| | | | | at Speyer, and by | | | | | the States of the | | | | | Empire at Cologne)| 66 | 22 0 | 3 55 3-517/721 | | | | | | |1419-- | | | | | Gold Gulden of | | | | | Elector Frederick | | | | | of Brandenburg (66| | | | | to the Nuernberg | | | | | mark) | 64-1/2 | 19 0 | 3 28 1-2851/3053 | | | | | | |1422-- | | | | | Gold gulden of | | | | | King Sigismund (68| | | | | to the Nuernberg | | | | | mark) | 66-1/2 | 22 6 | 3 59 1-8049/3052 | | | | | | |1428 and 1429-- | | | | | Gold gulden of | | | | | Emperor Sigismund | | | | | (confirmed at | | | | | Frankfort and | | | | | Nuernberg, 1433, | | | | | 1438, and 1442) | 68 | 19 0 | 3 17 3-18/1207 | | | | | | |1438-- | | | | | Gold gulden of the | | | | | Elector of Mainz, | 67 | 19 0 | 3 20 2-3886/4757 | | | | | | |1442-- | | | | | Gold gulden of | | | | | Emperor Frederick | | | | | IV. | 72 | 19 0 | 3 6 3-14/213 | | | | | | |1477-- | | | | | Gold gulden as | | | | | adopted by | | | | | agreement of | | | | | several Electoral | | | | | Princes at | {68-2/3 | 19 0 | 3 15 3-2421/7313 | | Frankfort | {69-1/3 | 18 10 | 3 12 0-3669/3692 | | | | | | |1495 and 1497-- | | | | | Gold gulden as | | | | | adopted at Worms, | | | | | and in 1498 at | | | | | Lindau and | | | | | Freiburg | 71-1/3 | 18 6 | 3 3 2-3104/15194| | | | | | |1506-- | | | | | Gold gulden as by | | | | | treaty between | | | | | Bamberg, Wuerzburg,| | | | | and Brandenburg | 71-1/3 | 18 6 | 3 6 0-132/7597 | | | |(and 3 6 of silver)| | | | | | | |1509-- | | | | | Gold gulden | | | | | adopted by the | | | | | Reichstag at | | | | | Frankfort | 71-1/3 | 18 6 | 3 6 1-3185/7597 | | | |(and 4 0 of silver)| | | | | | | |1524-- | | | | | Gold gulden as | | | | | determined by the | | | | | Imperial Mint | | | | | Ordinance of | | | | | Charles V. at | | | | | Esslingen | 89 | 22 0 | 2 54 3-5019/6319 | | | | | | |1551-- | | | | | Gold gulden as | | | | | determined by the | | | | | Imperial Mint | | | | | Ordinance of | | | | | Charles V. at | | | | | Augsburg | 71-1/3 | 18 6 | 3 6 0-3682/7597 | | | |(and 3 8 of silver)| | | | | | | |1559-- | | | | | Gold gulden as | | | | | determined by the | | | | | Imperial Mint | | | | | Ordinance of | | | | | Ferdinand I. | 72 | 18 6 | 3 4 1-2267/3834 | | | |(and 3 8 of silver)| | | | | | | |Gold ducat (ibid.) | 67 | 23-2/3 | (10 = 1 fl. 44 kr.) | +--------------------+---------+---------------------+---------------------+

TABLE OF THE GOLD GULDEN AND DUCAT--continued.

From 1559 the Tale and Standard remained legally unaltered; the only variations being thenceforward in equivalence or tariff, thus--

Fair of 1585 Set the Rhenish gold gulden and Philipps thaler at 82 kr. 1596 Imperial Commissioners at Frankfort set the gold gulden at 80 kr. About 1600 Gulden of 1551, of 72 kr., set at 94 kr. " " 1559, " 60 " " 79 " 1602, April 10 Brandenburg ducat set at 2 fl. " Philipps thaler and Reichs gold gulden set at 20 batzen. {Franconia} 1601 and 1602 {Bavaria } ducat, 67 to Cologne mark, 23 carats 8 grs. {Swabia } 1604 Ibid. (Muenz Probations Tag), gold gulden, 72 to Cologne mark, 18 carats 6 grs. fine. 1623, July 31 Mint Edict of John George, Duke of Saxony, Rhenish gold gulden set at 1 gulden 6 good groschen. 1623 Higher Circles gold gulden = 1 fl. 44 kr. " " ducat = 2 " 20 " " August 23 Wuertemberg gold gulden = 1 fl. 44 kr. " " " ducat = 2 " 20 " " " 29 Archduke Leopold of Austria set the gold gulden at 1 fl. 52 kr. " " " " " ducat 2 " 30 " " October 19 Strasburg gold gulden = 1 fl. 52 kr. " " " ducat = 2 " 30" " Electoral Saxony, Philipps or gold gulden = 30 groschen. " " ducat = 36 " " Brandenburg gold gulden = 27 groschen. " " ducat = 38 " " October 23 Frankfort gold gulden = 1 fl. 44 kr. " " " ducat = 2 " 24" " Lower Saxony gold gulden = 26-2/3 groschen (= 1 fl. 40 kr.). 1624 Three Circles (Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia) gold gulden = 1 fl. 50 kr. " " " " ducat = 2 " 30" 1637 " " " gold gulden tolerated at 2 fl. " " " " ducat " 3 " (But to be reduced respectively to 1-1/2 fl. and 2 fl. 24 kr.) 1659 Three Circles gold gulden = 2 fl. 10 kr. " " ducat = 3 " 1665 " (Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia) ducat = 3 fl. 1669 Three Circles ducat = 3 fl. " " gold gulden = 2 fl. 20 kr. 1690 In consequence of Leipzig standard, gold gulden = 2 fl. 56 kr. " " " " ducat = 4 fl. 1695 Austrian ducat = 4 fl. 1736} " gold gulden = 3 " 1738} " ducat = 4 " (but circulating at 4 fl. 15 kr.). 1748 " ducat = 4 fl. 10 kr. 1751, May 2 " Imperial ducat = 4 fl. 10 kr. " " " Kremnitz " = 4 " 12 " " " " Other " = 4 " 7-1/2 " 1771, March 23, Austria (Imperial Patent) Kremnitz ducat = 4 gulden 18 kr. " " Imperial, Bavaria, Salzburg " = 4 " 16 " " " Holland and others " = 4 " 14 " 1783, Sept. 1, Kremnitz ducat and zecchini = 4 " 22 " " " Imperial " = 4 " 20 " " " Holland " = 4 " 18 " 1786, Jan. 12, Imperial ducat = 4 " 30 " " " Kremnitz Bavarian Salzburg " = 4 " 20 " " " Holland " = 4 " 18 " (This equivalence of 4 fl. 30 kr. remained till the Vienna Convention (at 67 to the Koln mark, 23-2/3 fine = 4-1/2 gulden, ratio = 1:15-102/355 (15.2873)), the ratio prescribed by the Edict of the Emperor Joseph II., of 12th January 1786.) 1756 Souverain, or souverain d'or (originally Netherlands), minted in Vienna Mint, 22 carat 3/4 gr., 42.091 to mark gross (45.874 fine) = 6 gulden 11 kr. 1 pf. 1786, Jan. 12, Souverain, or souverain d'or = 6 gulden, 40 kr. (makes a ratio of 15.2923). 1750 Prussian Friedrichs d'or, 35 to mark, 21-3/4 carat fine (= 261 grs. of fine gold to the piece). 1770 Prussian Friedrichs d'or, 35 to mark, 21-2/3 carat fine (= 260 grs. fine gold to the piece). (Confirmed by law of 30th Sept. 1821.) 1857 Vienna Convention trade money (see p. 210). 1871 10-mark piece, 139-1/2 to the German pound, .900 fine.

TABLE OF THE THALER.

1555, Brunswick, Luneberg, Hanover, etc.--Thaler = 32 Marien groschen = 24 silver groschen.

1558, Saxony Mint Ordinance (renewing previous ordinances in spite of the Imperial Ordinance)--Thaler or gulden thaler, 14 loth 8 grs. fine, 8 to mark (= 8-56/65 to mark fine) = to 24 groschen: mark fine therefore equal to 10 fl. 38 kr.

1559, Imperial Ordinance--forbidden.

1566, Reichstag of Augsburg--again authorised; 14 loth 4 grs., 8 to the mark fine; equal 72 kr.; mark fine therefore = 9 thalers 68 kr. (10 fl. 12 kr.).

1585, Frankfort Fair--Philipps thaler = 82 kr.

1596, Imperial Commissioners at Frankfort--Philipps thaler provisionally set at 72 kr.

Same year, December 1596, Imperial Commissioners at Strasburg--Reichs thaler = 84 kr. (or 21 batzen), according to which mark of fine silver = 12 fl. 36 kr.

Beginning of seventeenth century (Imperial letters)--Reichs thaler recognised at 90 kr. as highest limit.

1603 (Higher Circles)--Reichs thaler recognised at 90 kr.

Electoral Saxony--Reichs thaler = 24 good groschen.

1610, Lower Saxony--Reichs thaler = 28 good groschen; Philipps thaler, 30-1/3 good groschen (mark fine silver = 12 fl. 9 kr.).

1617, Lower Saxony--Reichs thaler = 30 silver groschen.

1665 (Three Circles, 1667 in comitiis)--Reichs thaler = 96 kr. (fine mark = 14 fl. 24 kr.).

1667, Saxony and Brandenburg (Zinnaische Fuss)--Reichs thaler = 1 fl. 45 kr. = 28 good groschen (fine mark = 15-3/4 fl.).

1669 (Three Circles)--Reichs thaler reduced to 90 kr. (fine mark = 13 fl. 30 kr.).

1680 (the Three Circles carried it in comitiis)--Reichs thaler reduced to 90 kr. (fine mark = 13 fl. 30 kr.).

1681, Emperor at Salzburg set the Reichs thaler = 96 kr.

1690 (Leipzig Mint, for Saxony, Brandenburg, Brunswick, Luneburg)--Mark fine = 12 thalers = 18 fl.; Reichs thaler = 2 fl. (120 kr.).

1691, rejected by Hamburg, Luebeck, and Bremen, who stuck to Reichs thaler = 24 groschen, or 48 schillingen, or 90 kreutzers, or 3 marks (to be reduced to this by three drops).

1750, Prussia--Frederick V. 14-thaler, or 21-gulden fuss (14 thalers to the mark fine), thaler = 24 groschen, 1 groschen = 12 pfennige.

1821, Thaler = 30 groschen.

1857, " = 30 to the pound of pure silver, .900 fine.

1871, " = 3 marks (see p. 216).

TABLE OF THE GROSCHEN.

+---------------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | | Tale to the | Standard. | | | Cologne Mark. | | +---------------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | | | Loth. Grs. | |1226-- | | | | The Gros Tournois minted at | | | | Tours in France (58 to the | | | | troy mark) | 55-1/10 | 15 6 | | | | | |1296-- | | | | Groschen of Bohemia and Meissen | 63-1/2 | 15 0 | | | | | |1324-- | | | | Groschen of Meissen | 64-1/2 | 15 0 | | | | | |1341-- | | | | Groschen of Bohemia | 78 | 10 0 | | | | | |1350-- | | | | Meissen | 91 | 14 0 | | | | | |1364-- | | | | Bohemia | 74-1/2 | 9 0 | | | | | |1378-- | | | | Bohemian groschen, as by the | | | | Constitution of Charles IV. | | | | and Wenceslaus | 70 | 14 1 | | | | | |1380-- | | | | Meissen | 72 | 13 0 | | | | | |1407-- | | | | Wuerzburg (74 to the Wuerzburg | | | | mark) | 72-40/131 | 8 0 | | | | | |1444-- | | | | Saxony and Meissen | 88 | 7 13 | | | | | |1444-- | {160 | 16 0 | | Frederick II. of Saxony (four | {120 | 12 0 | | kinds of groschen) | {104 | 8 0 | | | | | |1484-- | | | | Archduke Sigismund of Austria | | | | (8 gulden groschen to the | | | | Vienna mark) | 6-206/307 | 16 0 | | | | | |1490-- | | | | Schwart groschen | 103 | 5 0 | | Large groschen of Hesse | 112 | 6 0 | | Hamburg | 104 | 9 15 | | Luebeck | 107 | 9 13 | | Bohemia | 84 | 6 12 | | (18 other species concurrent.) | | | | | | | |1524-- | | | | Imperial Mint Ordinance of | | | | Charles V. | 136 | 12 0 | | | | | |1551-- | | | | Imperial Mint Ordinance of | | | | Charles V. (16 contemporary | { 94-1/2 | 7 5 | | species.) | {100 | 7 6 | | | | | |1559-- | | | | Imperial Mint Ordinance of | | | | Ferdinand I.--Reichs groschen | 108-1/2 | 8 0 | | | | | |1572-- | | | | Lower Saxony--Silver groschen | 108-1/2 | 8 0 | | " Marien groschen | 155-1/2 | 7 11 | | | | | |1573-- | | | | Brandenburg | 108 | 8 3-1/2| | | | | |1610-- | | | | Lower Saxony | 116 | 14 4 | | | | | |1617-- | | | | Lower Saxony | 144 | 8 0 | | | | | |1622-- | | | | Higher and Lower Saxony | 108-1/2 | 8 0 | | | | | |1667-- | | | | Brunswick and Luneberg-- | | | | Good groschen | 160 | 10 0 | | Marien groschen | 192 | 8 0 | | | | | |1669-- | | | | The Three Circles (Franconia, | | | | Bavaria, and Swabia) | 141-2/3 | 8 0 | | | | | |1680-- | | | | The Three Circles (Franconia, | | | | Bavaria, and Swabia) | 141 | 8 0 | | | | | |1690-- | | | | Leipzig standard--Good groschen | 150 | 8 0 | | " Marien groschen | 162-1/2 | 5 14 | | | | | |1738-- | | | | As adopted in comitiis-- | | | | Groschen | 125 | 6 2 | | Imperial groschen | 134-49/64 | 5 13-1/4| | Marien groschen | 171 | 6 0 | +---------------------------------+---------------+---------------+

FOOTNOTES: