The Mariengroschen ("St. Mary's ''groschen''") is an historical coin that was a type of ''
groschen'' minted in
Lower Saxony and
Westphalia from the 16th to the 19th century. It was named after the
Virgin Mary who was depicted on the reverse side.
[''Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon,'' Volume 13. Leipzig 1908, p. 298.]
''Mariengroschen'' were first minted in
Goslar in 1505 and then in other mints in the
Harz mountain region, such as
Brunswick and
Hildesheim. The first coins were made of 8-
lot
Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to:
Common meanings Areas
* Land lot, an area of land
* Parking lot, for automobiles
*Backlot, in movie production
Sets of items
*Lot number, in batch production
*Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...
silver; 80 being struck from 1
gross Cologne
Mark. The
fine weight decreased in the course of the 16th century;
[Vol. 5, p. 273 f.] already around 1550 the fineness had been reduced to about half:
* Brunswick 1514: weight 2.75 g with 1.375 g silver content;
* Hildesheim 1528: weight 2.88 g with 1.062 silver content;
* Goslar 1551: weight 2.43 g with 0.91 g silver content;
* Brunswick 1572: weight 1.504 g with 0.69 g silver content.
The knightly estates of the
Lower Saxon Circle, which were entrusted with coin supervision, followed this development. The
Meissen Groschen gained influence through the debasement of the ''Mariengroschen''.
[Hermann Grote: ''Münzstudien''. 9 vols. Reprint of the Leipzig edition, 1857–1877. Graz: Akad. Druck- u. Verlag-Anst., 1969. ISBN 3-201-00336-0.]
Late ''Mariengroschen''
In the
Kingdom of Hanover ''Mariengroschen'' were last minted in 1816-1820 as
Convention coins;
[Gerhard Welter: 'Die Münzen der Welfen seit Heinrich dem Löwen'', Volume 1 Brunswick, 1971. p452] the
Duchy of Brunswick minted the ''Mariengroschen'' at five
lots
Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to:
Common meanings Areas
*Land lot, an area of land
*Parking lot, for automobiles
*Backlot, in movie production
Sets of items
*Lot number, in batch production
*Lot, a set of goods for sale together ...
until 1834;
Schaumburg-Lippe until 1821 with 1/4 fineness.
[
]
References
External Links
Article about ''Mariengroschen'' at Numispedia
Treasure trove find with ''Mariengroschen''
{{Groschen
Groschen
Silver coins
Coins of the Holy Roman Empire