Bank note

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Spanish Netherlands , Philip IV , Albertus thaler, so-called bank teller from 1632 of the Brussels mint

The Bankotaler (also Bancotaler , former designation Banco-Thaler ) was mostly not pronounced, but was a trading currency in the 17th and 18th centuries . In normal payment transactions, the Kurant currency was represented by coins . Circulating silver coins were converted into bank notes.

The minting of the bank totes became necessary because all bills of exchange were geared towards the lower value Albertustaler and further coinage of the German Reichstaler would only have enriched the changers. Following the example of the Albertustaler, Brandenburg initially minted bank totes in 1695/1696. Thereafter, under August the Strong , Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (1694–1733), three different Saxon - Polish bank notes appeared in 1702 . Under the Prussian King Friedrich II (1740–1786), bank totes with the year 1765 were minted as the main deposit coin for the newly founded Royal Main Bank in Berlin , but its mass was melted down again in 1790.

Currency-historical connections

In the 17th and 18th centuries, bank totals were an often used currency of account in wholesaling to make the value of an agreed payment independent of the precious metal content of the actual currency in circulation. Deposits of coins at a Deposito bank were assessed according to their fine silver content and the converted amount was credited to the depositor in bank notes. Payouts of the credit were not made in minted bank notes, but in the coins that were usually in circulation. The custodian bank customers could dispose of the bank total credit like a transfer without physical silver having to leave the bank (see deposit money ).

At the Hamburg bank founded in 1619, the bank total corresponded to the fine silver weight of the Reichstaler, which was minted according to the Reichsfuß . The silver coins in circulation were converted into bank totals. However, the exchange rate in the north of the empire was generally based on the so-called Bankotalers, which were coined in the Burgundian foot, such as the Belgian Albertus or Kreuztalers. This coin foot was a little lighter than the imperial foot and was already the reason for the coinage of the exchange thalers in Saxony. The Lower Saxony estates therefore decided on July 16, 1695 in Hamburg to mint themselves according to the Burgundian foot. The aim was to prevent higher value German taler coins from continuing to be exported. Initially, only Brandenburg minted in 1695 and 1696 according to a 9¼ thaler foot. Thereafter, in 1702, Kursachsen issued three different Saxon-Polish bank notes in the coin image. Prussia coined it in 1766, but only very few pieces were issued.

Bank total from the Hamburger Bank

In 1609 the Amsterdam currency exchange bank was founded. For the first time, a wide variety of coins as well as unminted gold and silver were not only accepted, but also credited to the depositors in the form of independent bank money . The Hanseatic City of Hamburg followed the Amsterdam example in 1619 and founded the Hamburger Bank . The bank note of the Hamburger Bank initially corresponded exactly to the Reichstaler minted after the Reichsmünzfuß of 1566 , i.e. a coin with 25.98 g of fine silver.

It was an important idea behind the introduction of bank money such as the bank tote to have an unchangeable measure of value that should be independent of fluctuations (mostly deteriorations) in the money in circulation. Nevertheless, the value of the Hamburg bank teller decreased, since all bills of exchange trade was tailored to the Dutch thaler, which was minted in a 3% lower coin value than the German Reichstaler. Its calculated silver content sank to about 25.3 g. This corresponds to the transition from a 9 thaler foot, the Reichsmünzfuß, to a 9 ¼ thaler foot.

However, the value of the Hamburger Bankotaler remained stable until the Hamburger Bank was closed in 1875. (In fact, it was later calculated in Mark Banco ).

Saxon-Polish bank notes

Saxon-Polish bank teller from 1702, from the Leipzig mint , so-called Beichlingscher Ordenstaler

Since the issue of bank notes promised a profit, August the Strong had three different bank notes minted in the Leipzig mint in 1702 . They corresponded in value to the Polish thalers minted according to the Burgundian foot and were therefore somewhat less valuable than the thalers minted according to the imperial foot.

They are lower-value Saxon thalers, but also normal Polish thalers. This dual character gave the authors the security they needed to issue these taler coins.

The issue of bank notes was carried out by the Grand Chancellor Wolf Dietrich Graf von Beichlingen . On the so-called Beichling Ordenstaler , only the cross, but not the Danish Elephant Order, was depicted. Beichlingen was assumed that this cross was that of the Danish Order of Danebro , of which he was a knight, and that the taler was an insult to the king. The count, who was also responsible for the expression of the inferior Red Sigh , fell out of favor. The coinage of the Beichlingstaler "and several other state crimes attributed to it" brought the Grand Chancellor from 1703 to 1709 into custody on the Königstein .

See also: Saxon coin history

Polish bank note

Ordinary Polish thaler from 1754, Leipzig Mint (Bankotaler)

The common Polish thalers minted in the Burgundian foot are usually referred to in catalogs as Bankotaler (Bancotaler).

The under August III. (1733–1763) in the Leipzig Mint for the Kingdom of Poland minted Polish thalers shows on the obverse the crowned, armored bust of the king and on the reverse the crowned four-part coat of arms of Poland / Lithuania with the Saxon heart shield on palm branches, underneath is the mint master's mark EDC of the Leipzig mint master Ernst Dietrich Croll. The front and back bears the title of August. III.

Prussian bank note

Prussian bank teller 1765 A with the inscription EIN BANCO THALER, Berlin mint
Prussian Kuranttaler of the usual payment transactions at 24 Guten Groschen from 1785 with the inscription EIN REICHS THALER

With the establishment of the royal Berlin bank in 1765, a Prussian bank note was used as the main deposit coin with a value of 32  good groschen . The thaler was intended to facilitate trade with foreign countries. The Prussian Kuranttaler of the usual payment transactions (see picture) contained 16.70 g of fine silver and was worth 24 good groschen . Since the Berliner Bank was initially unsuccessful, the trading coin was only minted in 1766, but with the year 1765. According to Heinrich Halke, they should not have come into circulation. Until it was melted down in 1790, 100,000 of these bank notes were in the state treasury .

The front shows the bust of King Friedrich II and his title inscription. On the reverse there is the Prussian eagle on weapons and the legend EIN BANCO THALER, between the divided year the mint mark  A for Berlin . The stamp was made by the coin engraver Jakob Abraham . In 1787, 16 reprints were made from the original stamps.

The rarity of this thaler was reported as early as 1811:

“They [the bank notes] were only minted for the sake of the bank and were supposed to have been minted 100,000 of them. However, these were not in circulation either at the bank or in retail. Only a few pieces have been seen with which the king presented his darlings, and these are kept in collections as a great rarity. Some even doubted their existence. "

- Karl Christoph Schmieder : Concise dictionary of the entire coinage

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paul Arnold, ...: Large German coin catalog from 1800 to today ... (terms)
  2. ↑ Heinz Fengler, ...: transpress Lexikon Numismatics ..., p. 32 (The silver coinage was converted into bank notes.)
  3. ↑ Friedrich von Schrötter ...: Dictionary of Coin Studies ..., p. 56 (reason for minting)
  4. ^ Tyll Kroha (1977) Lexicon article "Bankotaler". Lexicon of Numismatics, Bertelsmann Lexikonverlag. P. 52f
  5. ↑ Heinz Fengler, ...: transpress Lexikon Numismatics ..., p. 32
  6. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 169
  7. ^ Acsearch: Spanish Netherlands, Philipp IV., Albertustaler (Kreuztaler) from 1631, Brussels. The thaler has 1.33 g less fine silver than the Reichstaler.
  8. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 169 (because more money went to Holland from Germany)
  9. ^ Acsearch: Electorate of Brandenburg, Friedrich III. (1688–1701), Albertustaler (Bancotaler) 1695 LCS, Berlin (also with the year 1696)
  10. ↑ Friedrich von Schrötter…: Dictionary of Coin Studies …, p. 56
  11. ↑ Heinz Fengler, ...: transpress Lexikon Numismatics ..., p. 32
  12. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 169/170
  13. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 170
  14. ^ Johann Friederich Klotzsch: Attempt at a Chur-Saxon Coin History ..., p. 750
  15. ↑ CNG: Poland, Banco Taler 1754
  16. ^ Heinrich Halke: Concise dictionary of coinage ... , p. 34
  17. ↑ Friedrich von Schrötter…: Dictionary of Coin Studies …, p. 56
  18. ↑ National Museums in Berlin No. 1/4 Bancotaler
  19. ↑ Concise dictionary of the entire coinage , Halle and Berlin 1811, p. 38