Tail coin
The rear coin (depending on the value as a rear penny , rear dimes , rear crowns , etc. referred to) is taken from the folk superstition . The term is derived from the Old High German hecken ('multiply', 'propagate'). These are supposed to be miraculous pieces of money that multiply in the wallet or that always return to their first owner or ensure that his wallet never becomes empty.
In a figurative sense, the expression is used for a small but later investment amount.
According to mythology , you can get such a coin on New Year's Eve or on one of the twelve Rauhnächte , preferably on the night of Adam and Eve ( December 27th to 28th ) from the devil at a crossroads .
Alternative meaning
In numismatics , a rear coin is a counterfeit coin that was struck in a so-called hedge coin .
literature
- Herder's Conversations Lexicon. Edition from 1854.
- Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Volume 9. Leipzig 1907, p. 35.