In medieval and Renaissance Germany, the ('assayer', ) was the title of an official whose duties included supervising the and the stock of precious metals used in

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 A158 road is a major route that heads from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln in the west to Ske ...

. He was responsible for the quality of

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have prop ...

s and the accuracy of weights and measures. The was commissioned by the highest authority (generally a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

or a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

). He was therefore the official representative of his principal in discharging his duty as an inspector of

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...

s and precious metal goods in trade. It was his duty to produce weights used in minting and often he would also be charged with the safekeeping of minting irons when they were not used in producing

specie Specie may refer to: * Coins or other metal money in mass circulation * Bullion coins * Hard money (policy) * Commodity money * Specie Circular, 1836 executive order by US President Andrew Jackson regarding hard money * Specie Payment Resumption A ...

. (or ) is a loan from Old North French , Dutch , adopted around 1400 in the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

, as English ''

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

'' ultimately from

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

. The Romance and Low German term (as the Middle French ) can refer to any type of supervisor, besides a money assayer specifically one who supervises the quality of cloth or of grain, but in High German, the term is narrowed to the field of

metallurgical assay A metallurgical assay is a compositional analysis of an ore, metal, or alloy, usually performed in order to test for purity or quality. Some assay methods are suitable for raw materials; others are more appropriate for finished goods. Raw pre ...

, in the 15th century of money assayers, and in the 16th and 17th centuries also of officials who tested the quality of metal ores in mining.

References

Bibliography

*Grimm, ''

Deutsches Wörterbuch The ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' (; "German Dictionary"), abbreviated ''DWB'', is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the German language in existence.Warden of the Mint Warden of the Mint was a high-ranking position at the Royal Mint in England from 1216 to 1829. The warden was responsible for a variety of minting procedures and acted as the immediate representative of the current monarch inside the mint. The role ...

Münzmeister In medieval and early modern Germany, the (; Latin ) was the head or manager of a mint, a moneyer with responsibility for the minting of coins, or specie. His duties were defined differently at different times and places. Middle Ages The need f ...

Assay office Assay offices are institutions set up to assay (test the purity of) precious metals. This is often done to protect consumers from buying fake items. Upon successful completion of an assay (i.e. if the metallurgical content is found be equal or bette ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munzwardein Titles Economy of the Holy Roman Empire Directors of coin mints Metalworking occupations Medieval economic history