The ''Witte'', also called a ''Witten, Wittenpfennig'', or ''Veerling'', was the name of an historical north German

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 ...

stamped on both sides with a value of four pfennigs.Niemann (1830), pp. 373–374. The coin received this colloquial name because of its white appearance, which was caused by the oxidation of the copper. In documents the ''Witte'' was called the ''penningh van veer penninghen'' ("pfennig of four pfennigs"). In Denmark-Norway the coin was called the ''Hvide''. ''Witten'' were minted from 1330, starting in

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 ...

and in the northern German cities of

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

and

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

. The cities of

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

and

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

followed, the coins having different compositions, but a common appearance, weight and fineness based on the agreements of the Wendish Coinage Treaty. Outside of the Wendish Minting Union, ''Witten'' emerged in towns in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

and in

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

. In the course of the 15th century, the ''Witte'' was replaced by other denominations, the '' Dreiling,

Sechsling The Sechsling, also ''Sößling'', ''Søsling'' (Dan./Norw.) or ''Sechser'', was the name of a type of coin with a value of six ''Pfennigs'', representing half a ''Groschen'' or half ''Schilling'' depending on the monetary system. The ''Sechslin ...

Schilling Schilling may refer to: * Schilling (unit), an historical unit of measurement * Schilling (coin), the historical European coin * Austrian schilling, the former currency of Austria * A. Schilling & Company, an historical West Coast spice firm acquir ...

'' and Double ''Schilling''. After that it was only minted once more by the Wendish Minting Union, and then only for a short time at the beginning of the 16th century. These ''Witten'' were imitated in the

County of Hoya The County of Hoya (German: ''Grafschaft Hoya'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Lower Saxony. It was centered on the town of Hoya on the middle Weser river, between Bremen and Nienburg; the area now ...

, in

Diepholz Diepholz (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Deefholt'') is a town and capital of the district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Hunte and Lohne, approximately 45 km northeast of Osnabrück, and 60 km southwest of ...

and

Rietberg Rietberg () is a town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Gütersloh and 25 km north-west of Paderborn in the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The town is lo ...

, in the Bishopric of Verden and in

Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

References

{{Pfennig Coins of the Holy Roman Empire History of Lübeck Pfennig