White penny
The white pfennig (Latin denarius albus), also known as Albus or Rhenish groschen for short , is a silver groschen coin of the late Middle Ages , which found widespread use in the Lower Rhine region from the second half of the 14th century. The four Rhenish electors , who joined together in 1385/86 to form the Rheinischer Münzverein , had the white pfennig minted as a common silver coin alongside the Rhenish gold gulden . While the gold guilder was used as a trading coin, the white pfennig was a "coin of daily use". The Mainz white pennies showed the “ Mainz wheel ” on one side and were therefore also called the Raderalbus .
history
First archbishop left Kuno von Trier and his nephew Archbishop Frederick of Cologne to Weißpfennig by founded by them on 8 March 1372 coinage dominate. The aim of this mint was to mint common gold and silver coins with a fixed fineness . The common gold coin was the guilder , the obverse of which was Saint Peter , and the common silver coin was the white pfennig, which is first mentioned in this contract. The "white" appearance that gave the white pfennig its name was due to the high fineness of silver .
distribution
Since the Rhenish groschen was very popular, it was widely distributed between Heidelberg on the southern border of the Palatinate region and Moers on the Lower Rhine border and was reproduced by numerous Rhenish and Westphalian lords.
literature
- Arthur Suhle: "Groschen and gold coinage in the 14th and 15th centuries" In: "German coin and money history from the beginnings to the 15th century." Berlin 1974.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerhard Gierow, Willy Unger: Transpress lexicon numismatics. Berlin 1976, p. 19
- ↑ a b c d e f g Arthur Suhle: Groschen and gold coinage in the 14th and 15th centuries in: “German coin and money history from the beginnings to the 15th century.” Berlin 1974, p. 174ff.
- ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerhard Gierow, Willy Unger: Transpress lexicon numismatics. Berlin 1976, p. 268