A coin base weight (''Münzgrundgewicht'') is a mathematical reference for the

minting Minting is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated south from the A158 road. The population (including Gautby) at the 2011 census was 286. Minting Priory was located here. Mi ...

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

s that was used in the monetary systems of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. In conjunction with the coin standard (''Münzfuß''), the coin base weight indicates how many coins are to be minted from a specified standard weight.''Politisches Handbuch (1871), p. 205.

Development

Carolingian Pound

The first coin base weight to be specified was the

Carolingian Pound The Carolingian pound ( lat, pondus Caroli, german: Karlspfund), also called Charlemagne's pound or the Charlemagne pound, was a unit of weight that emerged during the reign of Charlemagne. It served both as a trading weight and a coinage weight. ...

, a pound of pure silver weighing 407.92 g.Hauck & Hauck (1875), pp. 15–16.

Cologne Mark

The Carolingian Pound was superseded by what became the most common coin base weight in Central Europe from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

to the 19th century. This was the Cologne Mark of 233.779 grams of silver. Silver coins of different weights were minted from this standard weight. If ''Thalers'' were minted from the Cologne Mark to, say, a 10 ''Thaler'' standard (called ''Fuß'' i.e. "foot"), the ''Thaler'' contained approx. 23.4 grams of silver (10 ''Thalers'' from 234 grams). In the German states, at the beginning of 1834, ''Thalers'' were issued to several standards: * 12 ''Thaler'' standard (19.5 grams of silver per ''Thaler'') * 13 ''Thaler'' standard (17.5 grams) * 14 ''Thaler'' standard (16.7 grams) * 18 ''Thaler'' standard (12.6 grams) * 24, later 24 ''Gulden'' standard (9.5 grams of silver per ''Gulden'') * 34 ''Mark'' standard (6.9 grams of silver per ''Mark''). The weight shown was the fine silver content in each case. This meant that the total weight of these coins could be higher due to the addition, especially of copper. However, their currency value, which corresponded to their real value, only depended on the fine silver content, which resulted from the interplay between the coin base weight and the coin standard. The exact weight of the Cologne Mark could vary slightly from region to region. The Prussian specification of 233.855 grams became the binding coin base weight for the states participating in the Dresden Coinage Treaty. From this basic coin weight, ''Thalers'' and ''Gulden'' could only be minted to the 14 ''Thaler'' or 24 ''Gulden'' standards. The Prussian definition of the Cologne Mark corresponded exactly to half a Prussian pound in general weight terms. Sachsen Zwölfteltaler DMK 178

''Thaler'' subdivisions that were minted as currency coins, whose nominal value thus also corresponded to their silver value, could also state their relationship to the Cologne Mark in the inscription. The Saxon ''Thaler'' of 1763 in the photograph is inscribed with ''CLX EINE FEINE MARCK''; confirming that 160 of these coins corresponded to the total weight of the Cologne Mark.

''Zollpfund''

The Vienna Coinage Contract of 1857 was intended to further develop the coin base weight and standard of the coin in the direction of the decimal system. Instead of the Cologne Mark, the ''Zollpfund'' ("customs pound") of the

German Customs Union The (), or German Customs Union, was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1834. However, its foundations had b ...

(''Zollverein'') of 500 grams was now set as the coin base weight. Since the 14 ''Thaler'' standard was replaced by a 30 ''Thaler'' standard at the same time, the silver content of the ''Thaler'' did not change much. The fine silver weight of the ''Thaler'' fell from a theoretical 16.704 to 16.667 grams. This reduction in weight remained theoretical because the difference was within the manufacturing tolerances common at the time.

References

{{Reflist

Literature

* _ (1871). ''Politisches Handbuch: Staatslexikon für das deutsche Volk'', Volume 2. Leipzig: Brockhaus. * Arnold/Küthmann/Steinhilber: ''Großer deutscher Münzkatalog von 1800 bis heute''. Battenberg Verlag, Regenstauf, pp. 7 and 9, 32nd edition, 2017, ISBN 978-3-86646-131-4 * Hauck, Dr. A.F. and Dr. H. Hauck (1875). ''Lehrbuch der Arithmetik für Gewerb-, Handels- und Realschulen.'', Volume 2, Part 1. Nuremberg: Friedr. Korn. Numismatics Monetary policy History of money Economy of the Holy Roman Empire