Sachsenpfennig

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Sachsenpfennig with the names Holzkirchenpfennig, Balkenkreuzpfennig, Kleeblattkreuzpfennig and Krummstabpfennig

The eastern Duchy of Saxony embossed, under the name of turning a penny , right Saxony penny or under the indisputable name high edge penny -known penny type of 10th and 11th century with upset edge is adjacent to the Otto-Adelheid-Pfennig of the most common penny type this time. Sachsenpfennige are the oldest coins minted in Saxony . The different coin names indicate an as yet unexplained position within medieval numismatics .

Name of the penny type

Julius Menadier called the pfennig type of the 10th and 11th centuries with upset edge Sachsenpfennig because it was minted in eastern Saxony.

Typical composition of a Viking Age hoard find

The older name Wendenpfennig is not applicable as a penny of the Wends in the sense of their own coinage, since the Wends still regarded the coins as bullion or so-called hacked silver and did not mint any coins themselves. According to Menadier, the use of hacked silver and coins are mutually exclusive. East of the Elbe with the Slavs (Wends) and Scandinavians ( Vikings ) the merchants had developed the so-called weight money economy. When paying, silver was cut into bars , jewelry, and coins and weighed with scales and weights. Silver treasures weighing several pounds from German and Western European denarii, oriental dirhems and Scandinavian jewelry have been preserved throughout the Slavic region . The pieces were mostly chopped up, broken and cut up.

The terms Kreuzdenare (Polish denary krzyzowe, English cross-deniers) appear in Polish and English texts. One of today's incontestable penny names is Hochrandpfennig or Randpfennig.

The different pfennig names indicate an unclear position in medieval numismatics. Their anonymity and their seemingly primitive coinage led them to be viewed as a separate group of coins outside of the regular imperial coinage.

Coin footer

The oldest Saxon pennies are based on the monetary base of the Carolingian coin reform . 240 pfennigs were minted from the Carolingian pound of 367 g silver. Twelve pfennigs made one shilling . The shilling was not a coin, but the name for a dozen , i.e. just one unit of account. In theory, the penny should weigh 1.5 g. When weighing coins found, the lightest were 0.95 g, the heaviest 1.90 g. From Roman antiquity, “talentum” was adopted for the pound, “ solidus ” for the shilling and “ denarius ” for the penny. The mint masters used mine-grade silver as the coin metal. In addition, circulating Roman denarii were melted down. Only pfennigs and half pfennigs were minted. The half pfennigs were called oboles (halves). Quarter pennies (fertones) were mentioned, but are only bill coins or were produced by division, not by minting.

The payee liked to check the authenticity of the coins with the bite test, as numerous deformed coins from this period prove: If the metal gave way, if the coin was genuine, if the tooth gave way, you had bitten on iron.

Coin edge

According to Carl-Friedrich von Posern-Klett, the special edge of the denarii made it easier to carry coins between the teeth, as is said to have been the custom among the Slavs. Hermann Dannenberg suspected that the edge was produced in a "kind of knurling process " after the embossing . According to Vera Jammer , the edge created by knocking on may be due to the fact that the coin metal was tested in this way. Counterfeit coins made from clad planes would not tolerate such treatment. According to Christoph Kilger, the upset edge served as a distinguishing feature to other penny currencies. According to Ulrich Zwicker, the chunks “were pre-worked on the edge of the coin with a finnish hammer or with a sharp knife. A corrugated bulge was achieved through blows performed vertically. The typical edge was created by tapping the corrugation with a flat hammer ”.

Edge production - edge formation

Sachsenpfennig around 1070–1100, with a high bulging edge, very similar to the formation of a burr on a chisel shaft, weight 1.01 g, diameter 15 mm. (Dbg. 1341)

The following comment on the previously described edge production according to Ulrich Zwicker: Edge notches that are still visible as described are probably not often found. The 60 or so pictures of Sachsenpfennigs do not provide evidence of such notches. In view of the large number of found coins, that doesn't have to mean a lot. The high amount of time required for the preparatory work by notching with a sharp knife, which would have to be sharpened constantly, or the fluting with a Finn hammer, is not quite understandable for the ongoing production of large quantities of small coins. Since a kind of "fluted" edge or at least traces of a kind of fluting still appear in denarii, it is conceivable that especially with these denarii the grooves may have been created with a tool such as a rasp or a coarse file and the abrasion thus created served for illegal silver mining. For the trade only with the Slavs, however, the processing of the edges for silver extraction could not be justified, as they still regarded the coins as hacked silver. If the edge is filed, the coin design should also have corresponding flaws.

The production of the upset edge by hammering, without notching beforehand, to be regarded as a work process for penny production in a mint, does not really succeed in view of the huge amounts of finds. The high rim is likely to have been produced in later use and not in a mint, as z. B. is the case in the aforementioned variant by Vera Jammer.

The first edge design on the outer edge of the coin of silver coins was made much later, for example in Saxony until the Taler time 1763. The flans for making crowns and silver guilders (⅔ pounds) had prior to embossing in the mints Dresden and Leipzig a so-called "Leaf edge". This fact also suggests that the high edge of the Sachsenpfennige was not produced in a mint, but in use.

Coin and research history

Hermann Dannenberg and Julius Menadier have already proven that they began minting in Saxony. After Arthur Suhle and Julius Menadier , the first Saxon pennies were possibly struck under Heinrich I (919–936), Duke of Saxony since 912 . After regaining Upper Lorraine, Henry I minted in Metz , Verdun and Strasbourg . In the east, perhaps in Merseburg , he probably minted the first so-called Sachsenpfennige. Today, however, it is mostly assumed that they were probably introduced in Magdeburg after Otto I (936-973) came to power from the middle of the 10th century :

Bernd Kluge sums up the state of research on the Sachsenpfennigs in his "Inventory of Ottonian coinage":

Sachsenpfennig 985–1000, based on the Carolingian model, weight 1.50 g, diameter 21 mm. Temple on the front, cross on the back, a ball in each corner. (Dbg. 1325)
Comparable to the Otto Adelheid pfennigs in terms of quantity, but the Saxon pfennigs are even more puzzling due to their lack of writing. They contain almost no information that can be used for chronological classification or for assignment to individual mints. The name OTTO or ODDO only appears on the oldest pieces; the inscription is replaced by pure ornamentation (lines or bars, stripes). A distinction is made between an older group with a larger diameter (around 22 mm) and a younger group with a smaller diameter (around 17 mm). The change from the older to the younger group has some transitional forms in its wake and begins in the first decade of the 11th century. This means that only the older group […] is Ottonian. [...] The creation of the Sachsenpfennige and the establishment of the Magdeburg mint are closely related to each other. Since this mint already existed in 942, the Sachsenpfennige must also begin before 942. It can be assumed that they were introduced with or soon after Otto I took office.

The Saxon pennies ascribed to the Imperial Mint in Magdeburg show considerable differences in the coin image, the temple or church gable called with a cross and the cross on the opposite side. The high-rimmed pennies, which are not uncommon in Saxony and were struck from the silver of the resin pits, date from around the year 1000. The reliable allocation of individual coin types to officially mentioned mints is still controversial today.

Penny groups (according to HOOPS, BECK, GEUERLICH and STEUER)

The Sachsenpfennige can be divided into three groups with different currency histories.

Older group (930 / 40–1000)

The older group is one of the imprints of German pfennigs based on the Carolingian model. They were minted from around 930/40 to 1000 and are the oldest coins from the East Saxon region. The average weight is about 1.5 g, the diameter 20 to 22 mm. The models were denarii Louis the Pious (814-840) with the legend XPISTIANA RELIGIO and a temple with a cross in the portal. The main mint is probably Magdeburg, since it is possible that coins were struck here since 942 at the latest based on documentary evidence.

It is the larger older pennies without a name that follow the Carolingian stamp of the “christiana-religio” denarii of Ludwig the Pious (Dannenberg 1325f and 1329), as well as those with the name OTTO or ODDO in the portal of a church and on the back a cross with balls in the corners. The "inscription" consists of lines or bars and rings.

  • Denarius, Carolingian Empire of Louis the Pious, minted 822–840. The denarius was the model for the older Sachsenpfennige.

Medium group (1000-1030)

The middle group are replicas of the pfennig types common in Saxony after around 990 with the wooden church motif of the so-called Otto Adelheid pfennigs. They were struck from around 1000 to 1030. The average weight is about 1.25 g, the diameter 17 to 19 mm. The main mint is probably Magdeburg as well. Until around the year 1000, the mint was assigned to the Imperial Mint in Magdeburg using the legend. Later the mint and inscriptions can no longer be interpreted. Instead of a transcription there is a false script or only lines. The script became superfluous, since the pennies were used to trade with the Slavs who were ignorant of the script. The Sachsenpfennige are also known as the anonymous pennies of the Magdeburger Schlags.

Younger group (1015 / 20–1105)

The younger group belongs to the number of coins minted by the archbishops and territorial lords who minted their own coins in the 11th century . The average weight of the pennies is about 1.05 g, the diameter is 15 to 17 mm, after about 1060 only 12 to 14 mm. The coins of the second half of the 11th century have an even higher rim. Mints are probably Merseburg, Naumburg , Zeitz , Meißen and Halle - Giebichenstein . At the end of the 11th century, mints were added in Polish territory. However, mints cannot be identified on the coins. The different groups of coin motifs such as clover-leaf cross, crook and bar cross pennies may come from different mints.

Otto Adelheid Pfennig

Denarii of this time, which also occur in Saxony, but bear the names Otto and Adelheid together, are the so-called Otto Adelheid pfennigs. A smaller part of these pfennigs, like the Saxon pfennigs, have a high edge and are therefore often mentioned together with the Sachsen pfennigs. Walther Haupt named them in his "Sächsische Münzkunde" under "Wendenpfennig, Sachsenpfennig, Hochrandpfennig". A summarized explanation is also included here. The various terms used by the denarii of this period indicate that their position in numismatics has not yet been conclusively clarified.

These coins, which may have run out under the Saxon Emperor Otto I and his second wife, the Burgundian Princess Adelheid, probably initially came from the Upper Saxon imperial mint in Magdeburg. Artur Suhle called this place of origin probable and wrote on the occasion of the penny coinage:

It is a matter of dispute whether the pfennigs were made here (Magdeburg) [...]; Otto had married Adelheid as heiress from Northern Italy and had ceremoniously moved into Magdeburg with her on Easter 952 . These so-called Otto nobility pennies with a cross, "Otto" in the corners, "dei gra (tia) rex amen" in the inscription and a " wooden church " on the other side with "Ahtelhet" in the inscription are [...] very long beaten, certainly until the 11th century.

The question of which mint owner in which mint had Otto Adelheid pfennigs minted has already been explained in Friedrich von Schrötter's coin dictionary:

The mint owner and mint of these Otto Adelheid pfennigs are disputed between Menadier and Dannenberg and Buchenau. The main question is: If the pennies are from the Empress-Regent (Adelheid) (991-994) as guardianship coins in a royal mint (Dannenberg), if they are from the Empress-widow's own coin (Buchenau), they are coined by the ruling royal couple Otto I and Adelheid in a Palatinate (Menadier). Menadier decided in favor of his view for the following reasons: According to numismatic experience, Adelheid guardianship coins are not known from other districts in Germany that we would have had to have had Adelheid had guardianship coins minted at all [...]. Menadier declares her first fruits as a commemorative coin for the entry of the young Queen Adelheid into Magdeburg in April 952, in which Otto I put the name of his wife on the coin in her honor.

The dispute between the two Berlin numismatists, Julius Menadier and Hermann Dannenberg in the 19th century is ongoing to the present day. Despite the large number of coins found, many thousands of Otto Adelheid pfennigs were found in the Baltic Sea region, the problem has so far remained unsolved. Today, Dannenberg's assumption is mostly modified again, that the first Otto-Adelheid-Pfennigs were minted by Otto III. deals that were created in several mints from 983/84.

Secured information

It can be considered certain that the Otto-Adelheid-Pfennige since the beginning of the reign of Otto III. originated in the vicinity of the resin and the silver deposits of the resin discovered at that time supplied the embossing metal. There is also no doubt that the denarii are Ottonian , as evidenced by the inscriptions OTTO and ODDO DI GRA REX. The identical and similar pennies from Magdeburg testify that these are Saxon coins.

Expiry of the penny coinage

So-called. Thin penny , 11th century, imperial mint Magdeburg. (Dbg. 651; Coll.Bonhoff 609)

The minting time of the Sachsenpfennige was replaced by the so-called thin pfennigs around 1105 . The conversion of the weight pound into a counting pound during the reign of the Frankish Emperor Henry IV (1056–1106) resulted in the forfeiture of the pennies minted on both sides. The weight pound of 367 g was converted into a counting pound of 240 pfennigs, the weight of which decreased continuously. The lighter pennies were enlarged in diameter. When the thin pennies were struck, the stamp imprint on one side eventually damaged the coin image on the opposite side. This phenomenon probably led to the bracteatic period beginning around 1140 , the high medieval regional pfennig period in Saxony. Instead of “regional pfennig”, the term “local pfennig” is also used.

See also

literature

Web links

  • mcsearch: Sachsenpfennig based on the Carolingian model.
  • mcsearch: Sachsenpfennig with the name ODDO in the portal of a church and on the back with a cross with balls in the corners.
  • mcsearch: Sachsenpfennig with MAGADEBVRG on the front and IN NOMINE DNI AMEN on the back.
  • mcsearch: Sachsenpfennig, mint of the Archbishops of Magdeburg, Halle an der Saale. Vs. with crook.
  • mcsearch: Upper Saxony, Imperial Mint Magdeburg, Denar (Hochrandpfennig) undated (984–995), so-called Otto-Adelheid-Pfennig, (Dan. 1167).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 12.
  2. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 12/13.
  3. ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatik , Berlin 1976, p. 334.
  4. ↑ Heiko Steuer: Coin Minting, Streams of Silver and Mining Around the Year 1000 in Europe - Economic Awakening and Technical Innovation , Jan Thorbecke-Verlag 2003 (?) (Medieval Research Volume 16), p. 122.
  5. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 17.
  6. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 13.
  7. ^ Heinrich Beck, Bonn, Dieter Geuenich, Duisburg, Heiko Steuer, Freiburg (eds.); founded by Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 26, Berlin 2004, p. 62.
  8. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 12.
  9. ^ Hermann Dannenberg: The German coins of the Saxon and Franconian imperial times , Volume II, Berlin 1894, p. 512/513.
  10. ^ Hermann Dannenberg: The German coins of the Saxon and Franconian imperial times , Volume I, Berlin 1876, p. 11.
  11. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974 (in “Pfund, Schilling, Pfennig”, p. 12).
  12. ^ Heinrich Beck, Bonn, Dieter Geuenich, Duisburg, Heiko Steuer, Freiburg (eds.); founded by Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 26, Berlin 2004, p. 62.
  13. ↑ mcsearch: Sachsenpfennige, approx. 60 photos
  14. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller, Stefan Weinfurter (eds.): Ottonian New Beginnings / Symposium on the exhibition "Otto the Great, Magdeburg and Europe", Mainz am Rhein, 2001. In it: Bernd Kluge: OTTO REX / OTTO IMP. On the inventory of Ottonian coinage , p. 101, document 31.
  15. ↑ Arthur Suhle: The coin. From the beginnings to modern European times , Leipzig 1969, p. 90.
  16. ^ Denar, Otto I. (936-973) . Church building with OTTO inside. The whole thing surrounded by lines / bars. // Cross with balls in the angles surrounded by lines / bars that are interrupted by a cross and two rings. Weight 1.41 g; Diameter 22 mm; Magdeburg Mint. (Dannenberg 1327; Kluge 49). - Available in the interactive catalog - Münzkabinett der Staatliche Museen Berlin, under Map / Europe / Germany / Mint - Magdeburg.
  17. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller, Stefan Weinfurter (eds.): Ottonian New Beginnings / Symposium on the exhibition "Otto the Great, Magdeburg and Europe", Mainz am Rhein, 2001. In it: Bernd Kluge: OTTO REX / OTTO IMP. On the inventory of Ottonian coinage , pp. 101/102.
  18. ^ Numismatischer Verlag Fritz-Rudolf Künker: Künker auction 232 - Coin Art of the Middle Ages - The Wolfgang Fried Collection | Peace Medals of the 17th and 18th Centuries - The John W. Adams Collection | German coins and medals. Numismatischer Verlag Künker, p. 51 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  19. ↑ sachsenpfennig.de
  20. ^ Heinrich Beck, Bonn, Dieter Geuenich, Duisburg, Heiko Steuer, Freiburg (eds.); founded by Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 26, Berlin 2004, pp. 62–63.
  21. ^ Heinrich Beck, Bonn, Dieter Geuenich, Duisburg, Heiko Steuer, Freiburg (eds.); founded by Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 26, Berlin 2004, p. 62.
  22. ^ Heinrich Beck, Bonn, Dieter Geuenich, Duisburg, Heiko Steuer, Freiburg (eds.); founded by Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 26, Berlin 2004, p. 63.
  23. ^ Friedrich von Schrötter, N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer, J. Wilcke: Dictionary der Münzkunde , Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930), p. 580.
  24. ↑ Vera Jammer: The beginnings of coinage in the Duchy of Saxony (10th and 11th centuries) , Hamburg 1952, p. 60.
  25. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, s. 13.
  26. ↑ Arthur Suhle: The coin. From the beginnings to modern European times , Leipzig 1969, p. 91.
  27. ^ Friedrich von Schrötter, N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer, J. Wilcke: Dictionary der Münzkunde , Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930), p. 475.
  28. ↑ Ivar Leimus: Crux, Cologne, Häv. 34/67 and Otto-Adelheid-Pfennige. Their occurrence from the finds at the end of the 10th century , p. 1206 .; Peter Ilisch, Reflections on the dating of the Otto Adelheid Pfennigs of the Hatz II, III and IV levels. Wiadomości Numizmatyczne 49, 2005, pp. 39–62
  29. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller, Stefan Weinfurter (eds.): Ottonian New Beginnings / Symposium on the exhibition "Otto the Great, Magdeburg and Europe", Mainz am Rhein, 2001. In it: Bernd Kluge: OTTO REX / OTTO IMP. On the inventory of Ottonian coinage , p. 100.
  30. ^ Empress Adelheid and the founding of her monastery in Selz. ( Memento of the original from April 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Lectures at the scientific conference in Landau and Selz from October 15 to 17, 1999. Edited by Franz Staab and Thorsten Unger 2005. In it: Bernd Kluge: ATHALHET, ATEAHLHT and ADELDEIDA. The riddle of the Otto-Adelheid-Pfennige . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mgh-bibliothek.de
  31. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 19.
  32. ^ Numismatischer Verein zu Dresden e. V. (Ed.): Dresden Numismatic Booklet, No. 1/1996. In it: Paul Arnold: The Genealogy of the Meißnisch-Saxon Princes , p. 10.
  33. ^ Heinrich Beck, Bonn, Dieter Geuenich, Duisburg, Heiko Steuer, Freiburg (eds.); founded by Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 26, Berlin 2004, p. 63.