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The ''Reichsmünzfuß'' ("Imperial Minting Standard") was a
coinage standard Coinage may refer to: * Coins, standardized as currency * Coining (mint), the process of manufacturing coins * '' COINage'', a numismatics magazine * Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin * Coinage, a protologism or neologism In linguistics, a neol ...
or ''
Münzfuß A ''Münzfuß'' () is an historical term, used especially in the Holy Roman Empire, for an official minting or coinage standard that determines how many coins of a given type were to be struck from a specified unit of weight of precious metal (the ...
'' officially adopted for general use in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. Different imperial coin standards were defined for different types of coins.


History

After
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
had introduced his successful Carolingian monetary reform, the high medieval
Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...
led to the collapse of imperial coin sovereignty.Carl Friedrich Gerstlacher (1786) Corpus iuris Germanici publici et privati: this is the most authentic possible text of the German imperial laws, imperial regulations and other imperial standards, in sistematic order, with annotations. Volume One - Of Imperial Laws and Imperial Ordinances. Johann Benedict Mezler, Frankfurt and Leipzig. Second unchanged edition. p. 374 ff. At the ''Reichstag'' or Imperial Diet in
Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...
in 1437, an early form of the imperial coinage system was discussed and the first determinations were made in the direction of an imperial coin standard. It was determined that gold coins valid throughout the Reich should only be minted with a
fineness The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hard ...
of 19 carats (). At that time, no quantitative determinations were made for silver coins. The imperial diets of 1438 and 1442 under Emperor Frederick III confirmed the provisions of Eger. At the Diet of Worms in 1495, a formal imperial coin standard for gold coins was specified, but not finally decided. Following the earlier example of the gold guilders of the Rhenish Minting Union (''Rheinische Münzverein''), 107 coins were to be minted from 1 ½ Cologne ''Marks'' ''rauh'', i.e. already alloyed. The fineness of the gold alloy used for minting was at 19 carats 6
grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and le ...
().


Examples


Gold ''guldens'', 1524

When he was elected Emperor, Charles V had promised to organize coinage permanently. After consultations starting in 1521, the Second Imperial Government (''Reichsregiment''), representing the Emperor, issued the first German
Imperial Minting Ordinance Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Im ...
(''Reichsmünzordnung'') in Esslingen.Friedrich von Schrötter, N. Bauer: (1970) ''Wörterbuch der Münzkunde.'' Walter de Gruyter, 1970, S. 556 f. The imperial standard for gold guilders with a fineness of 22 carats () was 89 pieces minted from the fine Cologne Mark of 22 carats (weight: 2.41 g).


''Reichsgulden'', 1524

For the first time, a general standard for large silver coins was introduced by the Esslingen ordinance. The background was the successful introduction of silver coins, which were meant to correspond to the gold gulden in metal value. The value ratio was about 1:11 at the time. The Tyrolean '' Guldiner'' was the first (from 1486); from 1500 onwards the first Saxon ''
Guldengroschen The ''Guldengroschen'' or ''Guldiner'' was a large silver coin originally minted in Tirol in 1486, but which was introduced into the Duchy of Saxony in 1500. The name "''Guldengroschen''" came from the fact that it has an equivalent denominat ...
'', later called the '' Klappmützenthaler'', minted in Annaberg/
Frohnau Frohnau () is a locality in the Reinickendorf borough of Berlin, Germany. It lies in the extreme northern part of the city. Frohnau is an affluent area characterized by many patrician villas from the early 20th century. History Founded in 1910, ...
and probably also in
Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...
followed. A Saxon ''Guldengroschen'' contained 27.40 g of fine silver, since eight coins were to be struck from am alloyed Cologne ''Mark'' of 15 lots (''Loth'') (). In 1505, the fineness was reduced to 14 lots 16 grains (). From 1519, large quantities of the ''
Joachimsthaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) 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 ...
'' ''Guldengroschen'' (27.20 g of fine silver) were minted in the north Bohemian town of Joachimsthal based on this standard. The success of this coinage was so great that the abbreviated name ''Thaler'' emerged for this type of coin, which then became established internationally for large silver coins (see also ''
Thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) 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 ...
'', '' Rigsdaler'', ''
Speciestaler The ''Speciesthaler'', also ''Speciestaler'' or ''Speziestaler'', was a type of silver specie coin that was widespread from the 17th to the 19th century and was based on the ''9-Thaler'' standard of the original ''Reichsthaler''. In Scandinavian ...
'',
Dollar Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...
). In the Esslingen coinage regulations, it was laid down that the imperial mint standard for a silver coin called the ''Reichsgulden'' was that 8 coins with a fineness of 15 lots () were to be made from a ''
Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...
'' of alloy Cologne silver. However, the fine silver content was 27.4 g, i.e. 0.2 g higher than the content of the older Saxon and Joachimsthaler ''Guldengroschen'', which were already in circulation in large quantities. This imperial coin standard therefore did not prevail.


''Reichstaler'' 1566

The most important imperial coin standard for the coming decades was decided in 1566 at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg. According to the Diet, 8 coins had to be struck from a Cologne ''Mark'' of alloy silver; however, the fineness was reduced to 14 lots 4 grains (). This mint standard was identical to the minting of 9 coins from the fine Cologne ''Mark'', since in both cases the fine silver content was 25.98 g. This was thus known as the ''9-thaler'' standard.


See also

* Coinage of Saxony - Imperial ''thalers'' *
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 elemen ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichsmunzfuss Coinage standards Economy of the Holy Roman Empire