The Hamburg Mark refers to two distinct currencies issued in the city of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

until 1875: * The Hamburg Mark Banco, a bank money and an accounting unit, and * The Hamburg Mark Courant, an actual coin. Each mark is divided into 16 ''schilling'', each of 12 ''pfennig''. Three marks were equal to a

Reichsthaler The ''Reichsthaler'' (; modern spelling Reichstaler), or more specifically the ''Reichsthaler specie'', was a standard thaler silver coin introduced by the Holy Roman Empire in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for th ...

, Germany's main unit of currency which the

Hamburger Bank The Hamburger Bank was a public credit institution founded in 1619 by the Free City of Hamburg. It operated independently until 31 December 1875, when it became part of the newly created Reichsbank. History The Hamburg City Council made the dec ...

(Bank of Hamburg) defined and maintained until 1875.

Hamburg Mark Banco

The Hamburg Mark Banco was a form of bank money created by the Hamburger Bank in 1619 in order to provide a more reliable medium of exchange in the midst of the monetary chaos of the ''

Kipper und Wipper ''Kipper und Wipper'' (german: Kipper- und Wipperzeit, literally "Tipper and See-saw time") was a financial crisis during the start of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).Reichsthaler The ''Reichsthaler'' (; modern spelling Reichstaler), or more specifically the ''Reichsthaler specie'', was a standard thaler silver coin introduced by the Holy Roman Empire in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for th ...

equivalent unit called the Hamburg Reichsthaler Banco, equal to 3 Hamburg Marks Banco and which subdivided further as * 1 Reichsthaler Banco = 3 Marks Banco, each of 16 schillings, and also as * 1 Reichsthaler Banco = 0.4 Pound Flemish, each of 20 schillings Flemish or 240 grotes Flemish. This Mark Banco turned out to be one of Europe's most stable currencies. While the Reichsthaler was originally defined as 25.984 grams (th a Cologne mark, or 233.856 g) fine silver, the

Bank of Amsterdam The Bank of Amsterdam ( nl, Amsterdamsche Wisselbank, lit=Exchange Bank of Amsterdam) was an early bank, vouched for by the city of Amsterdam, and established in 1609. It was the first public bank to offer accounts not directly convertible to co ...

's lower standard for the

Dutch rijksdaalder The ''rijksdaalder'' (Dutch, "Imperial dollar") was a Dutch coin first issued by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the late 16th century during the Dutch Revolt which featured an armored half bust of William the Silent. It was the ...

of 25.4 g prevailed for the next two centuries. From 1770 the Hamburger Bank accepted bullion and coin, buying one Cologne mark of fine silver for 27 marks banco (9 thalers, or 25.40 g per thaler), and selling it for 27 marks (9 thalers, or 25.28 g per thaler). The reichsthaler banco of Hamburg and Amsterdam was also equivalent to the

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were ofte ...

specie and the

Norwegian rigsdaler The rigsdaler specie was a unit of silver currency used in Norway, renamed as the speciedaler in 1816 and used until 1873. Norway used a common reichsthaler currency system shared with Denmark, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein until 1873 when the go ...

specie. The

Vienna Monetary Treaty The Vienna Monetary Treaty (also known as the Vienna Coinage Treaty) of 1857 was a treaty that set a currency standard for use across the German Zollverein states, Austria, and Liechtenstein. The official name of the treaty was Monetary Treaty Betw ...

of 1857 unified the various German currencies with the

Vereinsthaler The Vereinsthaler (, ''union thaler'') was a standard silver coin used in most German states and the Austrian Empire in the years before German unification. The Vereinsthaler was introduced in 1857 to replace the various versions of the North Ger ...

of 16 g fine silver, with Hamburg's Reichsthaler Banco worth 1.5169 Vereinsthaler. With full German unification in 1871 and the introduction of a uniform

German gold mark The German mark (german: Goldmark ; sign: ℳ) 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 g ...

currency in 1873 there was little need for an institution like the Hamburger Bank to verify the value of the currency of a unified Germany. The bank was closed in 1875 with the Reichsthaler Banco or 3 Marks Banco converted to 4.5 gold marks.

Hamburg Mark Courant or Currency

Even with the existence of standardized currency denominated in

s and Marks Banco, it was desired to issue coins (or ''courant'') in

Northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

valued at a fraction of these standard units.

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

first issued local currency in 1667 at a tale of 1 Cologne Mark = 10.5 ''thalers courant'' = 31.5 ''marks courant'' (the ''Zinnaische'' standard). In 1690 it then decided to follow the standard of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

issued at a tale of 1 Cologne Mark = 11 thalers = 34 marks courant. This Hamburg Mark Courant was worth 27.625/34 = th of a Hamburg Mark Banco (or 6.88 g fine silver) and was also divided into 16 schillings courant. A mostly similar currency system was used in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

, but with a slightly lower ''thaler courant'' worth the ''

specie'', so that the latter equalled 60 ''schillings courant'' (or 120 '' skillings Danske'' in Denmark and Norway). Prussian thalers and

s became more common in Hamburg after 1840 and began to be exchanged for a higher price of 2 marks ''courant'', thus implying a lower tale of 35 marks courant or 6.67 g fine silver. In 1875 the Hamburg Mark Courant was retired and converted to 1.2

References

External links

Images and history from Sean Breazeal
{{Mark Currencies of Germany History of Hamburg 1873 disestablishments in Germany Coins of the Holy Roman Empire

Hamburg Mark Banco

Hamburg Mark Courant or Currency

See also

References

External links