A ''Konventionsfuß'' ("convention standard", lit.: "convention foot") was a coinage standard established by state

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

, the convention. The first one was between

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and a number of German states of 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 ...

in the mid-18th century. This Convention determined that 20 ''gulden'' or 10 '' Speziesthaler'' (i.e. 1 Thaler = 2 Austrian ''gulden'') be minted from a single Cologne ''mark'' of fine

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

. Since the Cologne ''mark'' weighed approximately 233 g (with regional variants), one ''gulden'' had a fine weight of 11.69 g of silver. The

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

minted to this standard was called the Convention ''thaler'' ('' Konventionsthaler'') or Convention coin (''Konventionsmünze''). This designation was retained even after the states that had been party to the Convention, with the exception of Austria, had switched to a different standard.

History

had left the

Leipzig standard The Leipzig standard, sometimes called the Leipzig Mint standard, (German: ''Leipziger Fuß'') was a standard of coinage or '' Münzfuß'' originally established by the Electorate of Brandenburg in 1687 for silver Silver is a chemical element ...

(at 12 ''thalers'' or 18 ''gulden'' to a fine ''mark'') in 1747 and from July 1748 had initially minted ''thalers'' to a standard of 19 ''gulden'' 3⅓ ''kreuzers'' but, on 7 November 1750, went over to a 20-''gulden'' standard and called the new two-''gulden'' piece, the ''thaler'' (''Taler'').Friedrich Frh. Schrötter et al. (ed.): "Wörterbuch der Münzkunde." 2nd unchanged edition. de Gruyter, Berlin 1970, Reprint 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-001227-9 (reprint of the original 1930 edn.) To enlarge and secure its currency area, Austria concluded another treaty convention with

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

on 20 September 1753, which also introduced the ''20-gulden'' standard to Bavaria; this has since been called the Convention standard (''Konventionsfuß'').

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

and many other German imperial circles and estates also introduced the Convention standard. However, Bavaria withdrew from the treaty before the end of a year and switched to the 24-''gulden'' standard. The last south German Convention coin was minted in 1838. In Austria, the Convention standard expired in 1857 with the Vienna Minting Treaty, which saw the introduction of 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 1½ ''gulden'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konventionfuss Coinage standards Economy of the Holy Roman Empire 18th century in the Holy Roman Empire