Trade coin
Trade coins are coins that were minted with a constant denomination and fineness of gold or silver and were therefore preferred as a means of payment in trade . In numismatics , it is a "collective term for coins, which had a circulation area that far beyond the borders of the issuing country also handed".
Full-value and inferior trade coins
Trade coins were originally full-value precious metal coins, i.e. quasi Kurant coins , which were used in normal, peaceful trade. With such “minted precious metal bars in coin form”, importing important goods in particular was cheaper than purchasing the same goods domestically.
There were also inferior “trade coins”, which were mostly produced with the intention of deceiving. They served as divisional coins and soon became irreversible. It was often a question of war coins, e.g. B. the so-called Ephraimiten , the silver-plated copper small change of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). If these coins were ever allowed or accepted as legal tender again, then they were converted at strongly devalued rates according to so-called valuation tables and converted into new, full-value money according to these lists. The exchange rates were usually well below the intrinsic precious metal value in order to cover the remelting costs.
history
In the 17th and 18th centuries, a particularly large number of trade coins were minted. Examples of this are the Löwentaler, the Bankotaler , the Maria Theresa Taler and the ducats . Probably the best-known trade coin of the 18th century was the Maria Theresa thaler, which is still available today in Austria as a collector's coin. It was exported to Africa in large quantities. His reputation among the African population was so high that more goods and raw materials could be obtained with it than in Austria. The Austrian Scheidemünzengesetz still provides for the minting of trade coins (e.g. crowns and ducats) by Münze Österreich AG.
During the slow transition to the gold standard in England (1717 to 1816), when exporting high-quality goods to Prussia, 5 and 10 thaler gold pieces were preferred ( Friedrich d'or ). The Prussian Friedrich d'or thus became a trading coin, but at the same time it was a fully-fledged means of payment in Prussia (although the rate for the silver Reichstaler fluctuated, see bimetallism ).
With the Vienna Münzvertrages from 24 January 1857 were uniform for all contracting club gold coins named crown and half crown imported as a coin. They were minted from 1857 to 1871.
The Hungarian and Dutch gold dukats , which remained largely the same in fineness over several centuries, were also popular .
Other trade coins were the silver trade dollars , with which Mexico and the USA could purchase goods cheaply from South America or China. These countries mostly had the silver standard - or only paper currencies and set the silver value domestically high, although the world silver market price had long been lower.
There have been practically no real trading coins since around the end of the 1920s. Some are still minted today for coin collectors with a premium. The role of the former trading coins is still played by the US dollar as the world's leading currency.
literature
- Heinz Fengler; Gerhard Gierow and Willy Unger: Lexicon Numismatics . transpress publishing house for traffic, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-344-00220-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerhard Gierow, Willy Unger: Transpress lexicon numismatics. Berlin 1976, p. 178.
- ↑ Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Old dimensions, coins and weights. A lexicon. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, licensed edition Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-411-02148-9 , p. 384.
- ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerhard Gierow, Willy Unger: Transpress lexicon numismatics. Berlin 1976, p. 138.
- ↑ Austrian Scheidemünzengesetz 1988