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The ''Guldengroschen'' or ''Guldiner'' was a large
silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
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 ...
originally minted in Tirol in 1486, but which was introduced into the
Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...
in 1500. The name "''Guldengroschen''" came from the fact that it has an equivalent denomination value in silver relative to that of the '' goldgulden'' (60 ''
kreuzer The Kreuzer (), in English usually kreutzer ( ), was a coin and unit of currency in the southern German states prior to the introduction of the German gold mark in 1871/73, and in Austria and Switzerland. After 1760 it was made of copper. In s ...
''). In the latter years of the 1470s and early years of the 1480s Sigismund of Austria issued decrees that reformed the poor state of his region's coinage by improving the silver fineness back to a level not seen in centuries (.937 pure) and created denominations larger than the ubiquitous, but fairly low valued ''
Groschen Groschen (; from la, grossus "thick", via Old Czech ') a (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire and other parts of Europe. The word is borrowed from the late L ...
'' of 4 to 6 ''
Kreuzer The Kreuzer (), in English usually kreutzer ( ), was a coin and unit of currency in the southern German states prior to the introduction of the German gold mark in 1871/73, and in Austria and Switzerland. After 1760 it was made of copper. In s ...
'' that were in use. In 1484, small numbers of "half ''guldengroschens''" valued at 30 kreuzer were issued. This was a revolutionary leap in denomination from the smaller pieces, and surpassed even the large '' testones'' of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
which were the highest weight coins in use. Finally, in 1486 the full sized ''guldengroschen'' of 60 ''kreuzers'' was put into circulation and it was soon nicknamed "''Guldiner''". For a long time thereafter such coins were also called "unciales" because their actual silver weight was very nearly one ounce. As large quantities of silver became available other states began issuing ''guldiners'' of their own. Bern, in modern-day Switzerland was one of the earliest to follow the
County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised ...
by issuing its ''guldiners'' in 1493. In 1500, Saxony's mint at Annaberg took minting of ''guldiners'' to new heights and the economies of central Europe welcomed these large new coins. The original Tyrolean ''guldiner'' was designed so that eight coins minted would weigh in pure silver at one Tyrolean ''Mark''. This was fine for the Tyrol, but much of Europe was accustomed to measuring by the more widely used Cologne mark. The penultimate development of the ''guldiner'' occurred in 1518 when the Joachimsthal mint in Jagiellon-controlled
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
slightly altered the weight of the coin from 31.93 g down to 29.23 g.Miller (2020), p. 91. This made it possible to mint nine ''guldiners'' to have the silver weight equivalent of one Cologne Mark, rather than the eight in Tirol. This new coin was known as the Joachimsthaler (Joachimsthal ''guldiner''), but like the guldengroschen being contracted to guldiner, the ''Joachimsthaler'' became known simply as the ''
thaler A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...
''. This new coin was an instant success and was the great grandfather of many other similar weight coins like the daalder,
dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, ...
,
tolar Tolar (german: Thaler, links=no) or Jáchymovský tolar is the Czech name for the silver coin minted in Kingdom of Bohemia from 1520 until 1672 in Jáchymov (German: ''Joachimsthal''). On obverse of the coin is depicted Saint Joachim with coat ...
, tallero, etc. The 1524 '' Reichsmünzordnung'' defined a standard ''Guldengroschen'' for the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
, at th Cologne Mark of silver, 15/16 fine - hence, 27.405 g fine silver.Miller (2020), p. 79. It was valued at 60 ''
kreuzer The Kreuzer (), in English usually kreutzer ( ), was a coin and unit of currency in the southern German states prior to the introduction of the German gold mark in 1871/73, and in Austria and Switzerland. After 1760 it was made of copper. In s ...
'' in 1524 and 72 ''kreuzer'' after 1555. This imperial ''Guldengroschen'' ended in 1566 with the issuance of the ''Reichsthaler'', which contained less silver (25.984 g), but was also valued at 72 ''kreuzer''.


Guldengroschen represented in other coins

Guldengroschen itself, has been the main motive for many collectors coins and medals. One of the most recent is the Austrian 700 Years City of Hall in Tyrol commemorative coin, minted on January 29, 2003. The reverse side of the coin shows the Guldiner silver coin. However, the design is negative, representing a
coin die Minting, coining or coinage is the process of manufacturing coins using a kind of stamping, the process used in both hammered coinage and milled coinage. This "stamping" process is different from the method used in cast coinage. A coin die is ...
, as a reference to Hall’s history as a significant centre for minting coins.


References


Literature

* Miller, Manfred (2020). ''Münzverwaltungslehre'' at academia.edu. Retrieved 30 May 2022. {{Gulden Numismatics Groschen