Joachimstaler
Joachimstaler (spelling until 1901 Joachimsthaler : "from Joachimsthal Stammender") is the name for an early modern guilder groschen , named after the minting location of the mountain town of Saint Joachimsthal (today Jáchymov / Czech Republic) in Bohemia , which was founded in 1516 after the discovery of large silver deposits . One side of the Joachimstaler shows Saint Joachim and the coat of arms of Count Schlick ; the other shows a double-tailed and crowned Bohemian lion. The resolution of the inscription on the front reads: Arma Dominorum Slickorum Stephani et 7 Fratrum Comitum de Bassano ("Coat of arms of the Lords of Schlick Stephan and seven brothers, Counts of Bassano "). 1 .
The supraregional meaning of the Joachimstaler, shortened to Taler in German , is evident from the adoption of the word in other languages. Only half of the word was used. The second part of the word is derived from czech tolar , polish talar , italian tallero , dutch daalder and english dollar . From the first word component Joachim derives from Italian Joachimico , French Jocondales , Polish Joachimik , Russian Jefimok .
history
A S (anctus) I (oachim)
AR (ma): DOM (inorum): SLI (ckorum): STE (phani): E (t): 7: FRA (trum): COM (itum): D (e): BA (ssano)
R Double- tailed Bohemian Lion
LVDOVICVS • PRIM (vs) D (ei): GRACIA REX BO (hemiae) 1
The minting of the Joachimstaler was initiated by Count Schlick . They knew that a significantly higher profit could be achieved with minted silver than with unminted silver, because the counts had previously exported their silver to the trading houses Jacob Weiser and Hans Stützl in Nuremberg .
The first Joachimstalers are said to have been struck in the cellar vaults of Freudenstein Castle at the end of 1519 (without official approval) . In this context, the mint masters Stephan Misch, Nuremberg, and Utz Gebhart, Leipzig , are mentioned.
Johannes Mathesius , theologian and Latin teacher in Joachimsthal, noted in his Chronica der Keyserlichen freyen mountain town Sanct Joachimsthal ... for the year 1519:
"This Jar was first used to coin the old Jochimstalers."
Also Georgius Agricola and John Miesel argued for the year 1519 as an embossing start from. Miesel's work from the 18th century deserves particular weight, as the author was able to use the handwritten chronicle of the mining captain Heinrich von Koenritz, which was still available at the time. For example, Miesel writes that the first Schlick mint was set up by Heinrich von Könritz in the house of a Kunz Eirolt in Joachimsthal.
Officially, only a decision by the Bohemian state parliament of January 9, 1520 allowed Count Schlick to mint “larger groschen in the value of the Rhenish gold guilder , its half and its quarter”.
King Ludwig of Bohemia confirmed Schlick's privileges for Joachimsthal, but disregarded the coin privilege. The king had never approved Schlick's coinage, only tolerated it.
The Saxon dukes were informed of Count Schlick's plans at an early stage. In a letter dated February 28, 1520, it says: "... and the Slicken to set up a new Muntz and to have it munted carefully, namely groschen, which should pay guilders, half guilders and a place." (Thuringian Main State Archive Weimar) In any case, the conversion of Eirolt's house into a mint was completed before June 21, 1520, because on this date Stephan Schlick wrote to the Saxon prince: “And after I had Stephan Schlick for me, my dear brothers, my and our heirs and descendants itzunder aigene Muntz raised to slouch ... “(Thuringian Main State Archive Weimar). The “itzunder raised” can only say that one has been coinage not for years, but probably for months. It can be assumed that the oldest Joachimstaler was minted at the end of 1519 / beginning of 1520 (still without the year) at Freudenstein Castle and that the mint was relocated to Joachimsthal in the spring of 1520 (after March 1, but before June 21).
In the further course of the letter of June 21, 1520, Stephan Schlick asks the Saxon elector that the Joachimstaler should also be "common" in Saxony, with the reference that they were minted "on the princes of Saxony shot and grain" . On July 3, 1520, Frederick the Wise responded to this request.
Quarter and half thalers were and are rare. In 1520 a few double and even triple thalers were minted. In 1526 also for 1 ½ guilders (43.27 g). One such piece was auctioned in Prague (AUREA Numismatika Praha) in May 2012 .
The model for the Joachimstaler, both in weight and in fine weight, was the Saxon guldengroschen (later also known as Klappmützentaler ), which was first minted in 1500 in Annaberg and probably also in Wittenberg . In contrast to this, the years 1520, 1525, 1526, 1527 and 1528 can be found on the Joachimstaler.
From 1526 Joachimstalers were also minted in a second mint; probably in Schlaggenwald (Horní Slavkov). The thesis of a dislocation of the Joachimsthal mint is not shared by all numismatists. It is based on the presence of four mint masters in 1526, because the fact that four mint masters were required to operate a single mint sounds incredible.
From the year 1526 we know two types who are still puzzling to this day. One type shows an orb instead of the mint master's mark . The other type shows the mint master's mark of Wolf Sturz, instead of the separator marks between the words, four coats of arms can be seen here. One example of this type was auctioned in Basel at the end of January 1982 (Swiss Bank Corporation, Coins and Medals, 11th auction, no. 1140).
Mintmaster's mark on Joachimstalers (1519/20 to 1528):
- Cross on a lying half moon: Utz (Ulrich) Gebhart - no year, 1520, 1526, 1527, 1528
- Six-pointed star: Hans Weizelmann - no year, 1525, 1526
- Arabesque: Wolf fall - without year, 1525, 1526, 1527
- Lily: Kaspar Mergenthal - 1526, 1527
Number of Joachimstaler
In the literature it is claimed that more than two million Joachimstalers were minted. That should be true. According to the Leipzig trial files, between May 1520 and April 1528 2.08 million Joachimstaler (including the pieces) were struck. If this information is correct, one can reckon with approx. 2.2 million Joachimstaler (including the pieces) for the entire minting period (end of 1519 to spring of 1528).
In 1519 only a few Joachimsthalers were struck, as the minting did not begin until the end of the year. In 1525, an uprising by the Joachimsthal miners had negative effects on the minting activity.
The embossing Joachimstaler was King of Bohemia and future emperor in the spring of 1528 at the instigation of Ferdinand I set.
See also
Remarks
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interactive catalog of the Münzkabinett Berlin : Schlick: Grafschaft 1525 , accessed on November 19, 2014.
- ^ Johannes Mathesius : Sarepta or Bergpostill / Sampt of the Joachimßthalischen short chronicles. Nuremberg 1562, p. CLXVII. ( Digitized version ).
- ^ Eduard Fiala, Numismatic Society Vienna (ed.): The coinage of Count Schlick. In: Numismatic Journal Vol. 22 (1890), p. 180. ( digitized version )
- ↑ Gerd-Volker Weege (ed.): Money trend . International magazine for coins and paper money. No. 5/2012 . money trend Verlag Ges.mbH, Purkersdorf 2012, p. 45 .
- ↑ a b Lubomir Nemeskal: New findings on the history of the Joachimstaler mint in the Schlick era . In: Austrian Numismatic Society (Hrsg.): Numismatic magazine Bernhard Koch-Gedächtnisschrift . tape 103 , 1995, ISSN 0250-7838 , p. 75-80 .