Ewiger Pfennig

The ''Ewiger Pfennig'' or eternal penny ( lat, denarius perpetuus) was a coin of the regional ''pfennig'' period ( bracteate 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''.

History

Recall, renewal and exchange

Each year, bracteate ''pfennigs'' had to be exchanged for a fee, usually twelve old ones for nine or ten new ones. The old ones were declared invalid, recalled (''Verrufung'') and replaced by coins with new images. The surplus went to cover minting costs and make a profit. An example of how the exchange was enforced is provided by Freiberg's municipal law:

The ''pfennig'' was only valid in the region or city where it was struck.Friedrich von Schrötter, N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer, J. Wilcke: ''Wörterbuch der Münzkunde'', Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930), p. 440. Trading at the market was only permitted with local coins, the place of manufacture of which was usually identical to the market place. Anyone who came from another currency area to trade had to exchange the coins they had brought with them for common ones at a loss. The exchange fee corresponded to a wealth tax of 25% for exchanging Freiberg ''pfennigs'' in the Meissen currency area, for example. The exchange fee was part of the mintmaster's income.
In the Görlitz town records (''Stadtbuch'') of 1305 one reads that for an interest-free loan of 100  ''Marks'' of silver the mintmaster for the March of Brandenburg, Henry of Salza, promised not to break the coins at the weekly markets anymore (to make them unusable for trading). However, he had to be forced by a court to keep the agreement. Finally, the city of Görlitz bought the minting rights from the sovereign.

Introduction of the ''Ewiger Pfennig''

In order to create stable conditions for trade and commerce, the trading cities were mainly interested in taking the coinage into their own hands in order to mint the ''Ewiger Pfennig'', a permanent coin, and thus to eliminate the annual exchange of coins and associated fees, the territorially restricted validity of the bracteates and the constant depreciation of coins.

The frequent shortage of coins on the part of the mint lords gave many cities the opportunity to lease the mints from their sovereigns and later to acquire them through purchase. Examples are:

* 1179: Cologne was given the mint by Archbishop Philip as an enfeoffment for 1000  ''Marks'' of silver
* 1272: Stade bought the right to mint coins.
* 1291 or 1354: Erfurt, own coinage
* 1293: Hamburg leased the mint from the Count of Holstein, in 1325 Hamburg owned the right to mint.
* 1293: Lüneburg received the right to mint coins.
* 1295: Constance bought the right to mint coins.
* 1296: Brunswick received the mint as a fief, 1412 as property.
* 1296: Strasbourg, own minting, here the forerunners of the ''Schüsselpfennigs'' were minted as ''Ewiger Pfennigs'', e.g. B. the ''Lilienpfennigs''.
* 1325: Stralsund and Rostock received the right to mint coins.
* 1332: Hanover together with the knighthood received the mint as property.
* 1369: In the Margraviate of Brandenburg, several cities, including Berlin, Brandenburg and Stendal, paid a one-time settlement to the Margrave and received the right to mint coins in return for minting the ''Ewiger Pfennig''.
* 1373: Basel, own coinage. The newly elected bishop, John of Vienne enfeoffed the right to mint coins for 4,000 ''gulden''. Hollow ''pfennigs'' were issued with the bishop's crozier of Basle as a coin image.

After the mints were taken over, new coins were usually minted. However, since no comprehensive regulations were implemented between the cities and states, coin devaluation and debasement could not be eliminated.

''Ewiger Pfennigs'' of the hollow (''Hohlpfennig'') type, diameter 19 to 21 mm, weight 0.32 to 0.54 g are shown in the following pictures:

Schweiz, St. Gallen (Abtei), Ewiger Pfennig (Runder Pfennig) etwa 1270, 20 mm, 0,54 g (Bonhoff 1820-1), CNG 2.JPG, Switzerland, Abbey of St. Gallen, minted from about 1273
Konstanz (Bistum), Bischof Heinrich II. von Klingenberg (1293–1306), Ewiger Pfennig, 19 mm, 0,42 g (Bonhoff 1815), CNG.jpg, Bishopric of Constance, Bishop Henry II of Klingenberg (1293–1306)
Lindau, königliche Münzstätte, Ewiger Pfennig (1295–1335), 19 mm, 0,32 g (Bonhoff 1323), CNG 2.JPG, Lindau, Royal Mint, minted 1295 to 1335
Ewiger Pfennig, Braunschweig (Stadt), 1296 bis 1498, 21mm, 0.52 g (Berger 993-1001; Bonhoff 424), CNG 2 verwenden.JPG, Brunswick (city), minted 1296 to 1498
Lilienpfennig, Straßburg, frühes 14. Jh., CNG.PNG, Strasbourg, ''Lilienpfennig'', forerunner of the ''Schüsselpfennig'', c. 1400

Berlin Mint

The opportunity to introduce the eternal penny was

In 1369, Margrave Otto VIII (1365–1373) left the minting of the ''Ewiger Pfennig'' to the estates in the mint districts of Stendal and Berlin for a one-off payment. However, after just a few years, the coinage that had been guaranteed "forever" was abolished. Emperor Charles IV bought the March of Brandenburg from the Wittelsbach margrave in 1373 and reorganized the coinage system. The hollow coin named by Fischbach with a burgonet as a coin image However, this does not correspond to the ''denarius'' struck on both sides with the Berlin Bear, which is known as the ''Ewiger Pfennig'' instead of this hollow coin. More recent scholarship, however, has not ruled out that the ''Helmpfennig'' could be the Berlin ''Ewiger Pfennig''.Wittelsbacher und Luxemburger Markgrafen in Brandenburg
– Stadt Berlin: Denar (Ewiger Pfennig).

References

External links

{{Pfennig
Silver coins
Coins of the Holy Roman Empire
Coins of Switzerland
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History of money