Judenpfennig
Judenpfennige , also known as Frankfurter Judenpfennige or Rheinische Judenpfennige , were privately minted coins with a low face value that were brought into circulation in large quantities in the Kingdom of Prussia , especially in Frankfurt am Main and the Rhineland , in the early 19th century . The term “Judenpfennig” was used as a slang term for coins of little value in earlier times.
Head taxes, customs duties and other charges that were only applied to Jews and based on the Jewish regulations were also historically referred to as "Judenpfennig". One example is the poll tax to be paid to the emperor from 1215 , which placed Jews under special protection against payment.
Until recently, representations of the origin of the Jewish pennies and their authors have been published, which generally assign the authorship to Jews. These representations were refuted in detail in 1931 by a Frankfurt numismatist with reference to contemporary official and court files.
description
The coins are made of copper and have a diameter of about 19 mm and a weight of 1.0 to 1.3 grams. On the front they show fictitious currency information such as “Atribuo”, “Theler”, “Halbag” or “Pfenning”, but also “ Heller ” and “ Pfennig ”. The dates indicated on the coins range from 1703 to 1822, although any information earlier than 1822 does not reflect the actual year of minting. On the reverse, motifs such as arms, eight-pointed stars, wreaths, lions and roosters are shown in numerous variations. Because of the similar style of all known designs, a single author is assumed.
etymology
The term “Judenpfennige” was used for inferior coins in earlier times. This and the designation that became common in the 19th and 20th centuries for the Jewish penny refer to the anti-Jewish stereotype of the Jewish usurer and coin forger. With its negative connotation, “Judenpfennig” is an example of the common Jewish compound words with derogatory meaning in the German language.
Contemporary meaning
From the end of March 1808, no more coins were struck in Prussia . It was not until 1821 that they were minted again in Prussia. In 1808 and December 1811 the coins in circulation were devalued. This meant that more and more coins were smuggled abroad and melted down. As a result, there was soon a shortage of small change for payment transactions, which was increased by the needs of the emerging industries in the Rhineland and Westphalia. The great need for means of payment in small denominations led to a variety of emergency solutions, including the use of tokens and buttons. In this respect, the Jewish pennies were also a makeshift money that, like the English tokens, was intended to remedy an actual shortage. They were gladly accepted as long as the recipients were convinced of their marketability. In addition, they were long tolerated by the state, only the abuse in the form of the distribution of lighter coins led to police intervention.
Representation hostile to Jews
The numismatists Paul Joseph and Eduard Fellner, in their work on the coins of Frankfurt am Main, published in 1896 and 1903, linked the Jewish pennies with criminal machinations, without, however, designating Jews as the authors:
“At the beginning of this century these were illegally beaten in an unknown location and smuggled into traffic. They are a little lighter than the real ones, which means that manufacturers can make a big profit in mass production. It is not likely that they were beaten in Frankfurt, but they were brought into circulation here. In any case, they are known all over the world as 'Frankfurter Judenpfennige'. "
The numismatist Friedrich von Schrötter provided in his dictionary of coinage , published in 1930, considered to be the standard work for decades and reissued and reprinted unchanged in 1970 and 2012 , which now expressly names Jews as the originators of the Jewish pennies:
“ Jewish pennies. In the first and second decade of the 19th century there was an extreme shortage of coins on the Rhine because none had been struck in Prussia since 1808. Jews took advantage of this opportunity by having the smallest copper coins, pfennigs and hellers, minted somewhat more easily than the legal ones, namely the first with imaginary names 'Atribuo', 'Theler', 'Halbac', and imaginary images such as a shield with 2 clay pipes, an arm, star, wreath, lion u. Hahn as well as with the years 1703, 1740, 1807, 9, 10, 18, 19, 20 and 1821. The Prussian coinage, which was resumed in this year, and the harshly handled Prussian coin police seem to have put an end to this nonsense. The profit of the manufacturers through this business was enormous: in the year 1820 a Jew from Neuss is supposed to get 54,000 Fl. earned, and in 10 months a Westphalian customs office alone received 9 3/8 quintals of such copper coins. So far it has not been possible to discover where the Jewish pennies are minted, but it is very likely in or around Frankfurt a. M., because they have always been called 'Frankfurter Judenpfennige'. "
Both the origin of the name Judenpfennige and the origin of the coins remained unclear. The authors Joseph and Fellner did not provide any evidence for their information. Von Schrötter cited Joseph and Fellner as evidence, and he also referred to his own account of the Prussian coinage of the 19th century, published in 1926. There he had already reproduced extracts from two letters from a Prussian mint official from 1821:
“On January 25th and April 2nd, 1821, Vincke wrote that a Jew from Neuss had, as it was called, 54,000 Fll at the importation of Frankfurter Heller in 1820. earned, even tokens and old buttons are used as dividing coins. In 10 months, 22 ct. Silver and 9 3/8 ct. Copper coins were imported at the Wilnsdorf customs office in Westphalia alone. "
Schrötter added a further qualifying footnote to the statement on the “Neuss Jew”: The so-called Jewish pennies with the dates 1703 to 1822 certainly played a role (...) . The "Wilnsdorf customs office" was a customs office in the Siegen district. The depiction, which is embedded in a context, makes it clear that the information about the "Neuss Jew" was nothing more than a rumor as early as the early 19th century. In addition, the emphasis in von Schrötter's first presentation was clearly on the dramatic lack of change, and not on criminal machinations. From the statement of 22 quintals of silver coins, which was no longer contained in the dictionary of coinage a few years later , it became clear that the copper Jewish pennies also only made up a smaller proportion of the coins received in Wilnsdorf, if they were included at all.
In 2007, the questionable and largely unconfirmed information from the previous authors was included in the second edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica , where the manufacture of the coins is attributed to "some Jews" and the information about the "Neuss Jews" and the Wilnsdorf customs office are repeated.
Actual occurrence
Minting of Hessian pfennigs for foreign countries
In June 1820 a money changer from Kassel asked the Darmstädter Münze for an offer to mint 80 to 100 quintals of copper lighter to be sent abroad. The Darmstadt mint master made contact with the Frankfurt company of the Heitefuss brothers in the course of negotiations about the procurement of the coarse coarse. These were able to produce copper flakes and in the end the contract between the Darmstädter Münze and Heitefuss was concluded without the involvement of the Kassel changer. Heitefuss was supposed to supply the coin with 20,000 pounds of pennies as blanks at a price of 63 kreuzer a pound and take back finished coins for 90 kreuzer a pound with a further discount of three percent.
After completing this first deal, the Heitefuss brothers were interested in a continuation. In the meantime, however, concerns had arisen within the Hessian finance ministry. On the one hand, it was feared that the pennies sent abroad in large numbers could come back to Hesse and increase the amount of money. There was also concern that the coins would actually be brought to Northern Germany to replace the much heavier pennies there. Such a procedure would have damaged the reputation of the Hessian coinage and was considered to be detrimental to the dignity of the state.
Continuation of the coinage
The Heitefuss brothers responded to the refusal from the Darmstadt Mint with a counter-presentation. They emphasized that, in anticipation of the continuation of the order, they had already enlarged their rolling and cutting mill and had obtained 200 quintals of copper from Hessian mines. The rejection by the Hessian state government means great hardship for your company. They also offered to no longer use the letters "G.-H." to indicate Hessian origin on the coins in the future. The regional finance board agreed now majority of the continuation of coinage, but insisted on the previous form and the embossing is legal monetary standard . A concealment of the origin of the coins is excluded. There were strong objections within the chamber against the approval of the coinage, which was initially directed against the coin images. Such representations are harmless for show coins and tokens, but unworthy for money. One member of the commission took the view that the coins should indeed be sent to the Counties of Mark, the Duchies of Cleve, Jülich and Berg and the Netherlands.
In July 1822, the Hessian Ministry of Finance approved the continuation of the coinage. Until August 1822 pfennigs were struck for 6645 guilders. In September the Heitefuss brothers asked their unnamed main customer to stop the minting.
Investigations and criminal proceedings
In January 1823, the Darmstadt mint master was questioned by the Darmstadt criminal court on behalf of a Cologne investigating judge. In the investigation into the placing of false copper pennies on the market, seven copper pennies were presented as evidence, most of which were supposed to come from England. One of the seven coins was recognized by the interrogated mint master; it came from his minting for the Heitefuss brothers in July 1822.
In the course of the investigation, it was found that the coins struck on behalf of the Heitefuss brothers, which corresponded to the legal standard, were at least partially put into circulation in Prussia. The responsibility for this is attributed less to the Heitefuss brothers than to their customers, who discovered the Rhineland and Westphalia as a profitable sales area for their coins. The majority of the confiscated coins, however, were lighter and presumably came from England. The large number of Jewish pennies in circulation finally caught the attention of the authorities and led to the investigation. In an instruction to the regional councils, penny trading is assumed to have a profit margin of 27 percent.
The Cologne money changer Philipp Wolff was identified as one of the main distributors, who in turn named the Heitefuss brothers from Frankfurt and Charles Veideler from London as his suppliers. Further investigations led to the finding of Karl Saedeler in London as another supplier to Wolff and of Wolff's agent HA Bielefeld from Deutz, who did the sales in Holland. During his interrogation, Konrad Heitefuss stated that he had minted real Hessian pfennigs rather than false coins. As proof, he presented a pfennig from the first issue. Only Philipp Wolff from Cologne and eight of his customers, mainly Jewish money changers, merchants and traders, were accused. Since the confiscated Jewish pennies did not imitate legal tender, only one defendant was convicted. Only the merchant Heymann Wolff from Wesseling could be proven that he had knowingly brought false Frankfurt Heller into circulation.
Confiscation and Prohibition
The confiscated coins were not released due to regulations to maintain the coin rack . It was decided that the Jewish pennies would be melted down at the expense of their owners and that the copper would be returned. For the coins of the first minting of the Heitefuss brothers that were recognized as genuine, the owner had to provide an address abroad to which the coins were sent at his own expense. As of April 10, 1823, the City of Frankfurt's magistrate confiscated considerable amounts of the Jewish pennies. With the Prussian cabinet order of June 22, 1823, the bringing in of foreign copper coins not minted under Prussian supervision was prohibited. In the event of an infringement, the coins were confiscated and a fine was payable in the amount of twice the face value.
Swiss origin
Due to the similarity of a coin image with the coat of arms of the municipality of Gersau in the Swiss canton of Schwyz, some Jewish pennies were claimed to be of Swiss origin at the beginning of the 20th century. The different colors, shown on the coins by hatching, the currency denomination pfennig - and never blacks - and the loss of Gersau's mint sovereignty in 1817 speak against this are so similar to the other Jewish pennies that they definitely come from just one author.
reception
The term “Judenpfennige” is still used today in numismatics and in the coin trade. The detailed description of the actual processes by the Frankfurt numismatist Ohly, published in a specialist journal in 1931, was hardly noticed. Only in the Frankfurter Israelitisches Gemeindeblatt from April 1933 did a comprehensive essay about Frankfurt Jews appear in coinage , which gave Ohly's findings in abbreviated form. The author stated about the naming: “This somewhat embarrassing matter was simply blamed on the Frankfurt Jews”. The "big masterminds of the whole transaction" were the Christian owners of the company "Gebrüder Heitefuß". As further explanations for the term "Judenpfennige", the author pointed out that the coins were probably mainly brought into circulation by Frankfurt Jewish traders and money changers and that most of the customers accused of having money changers in Cologne were Jews.
literature
- Arie Kindler : Judenpfennige , in: Encyclopaedia Judaica , Volume 10, 1973 (1971), Sp. 406-407
- Paul Joseph and Eduard Fellner: The coins of Frankfurt am Main together with an introduction to the history of coins, 2 volumes. August Oberrieth, Frankfurt am Main 1896 and 1903, pp. 624–626, 855 Volume 1, Online PDF , 28.4 MB and Volume 2, Online PDF , 16.0 MB, accessed on July 21, 2017.
- Richard Ohly: A contribution to the history of the Jewish pennies. In: Frankfurter Münzzeitung. 1931, NF Vol. 2, No. 19/20, pp. 290-294.
- Friedrich von Schrötter: The Prussian coinage 1806 to 1873. Coin history part. First volume. (As the 1st sequence of the 4 volumes of the Acta Borussia on coin history). Paul Parey, Berlin 1926. Newly published by Wilhelm Treue, Keip Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1986/87, ISBN 3-8051-0007-8 .
Web links
- Jewish pennies at www.numispedia.de
- Jewish pennies at "Frankfurt feels good!"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erich Hinkel: Where did you go? Traces of Ockenheim Jews Ingelheim am Rhein, June 2003
- ^ A b Paul Joseph and Eduard Fellner: The coins of Frankfurt am Main with an introduction to the history of coins, Volume 2, p. 624.
- ↑ a b Arie Kindler: Judenpfennige. In: Fred Skolnik and Michael Berenbaum (eds.): Encyclopaedia Judaica, Second Edition. Volume 11 (Ja-Kas). Thomson Gale, Farmington Hills, MI 2007, ISBN 978-0-02-865939-8 , p. 525, full text in the Jewish Virtual Library , Lemma Judenpfennige , accessed on July 22, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Friedrich von Schrötter et al. (Ed.): Dictionary of coinage. 2nd unchanged edition. de Gruyter, Berlin 1970, reprint 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-001227-9 (reprint of the original edition from 1930), pp. 288–289 (Lemma “Judenpfennige”).
- ^ A b Paul Joseph: Not Gersau. In: Frankfurter Münzzeitung 1903, Volume 3, pp. 442–443.
- ↑ Robert Schlickewitz: Judenaffe to Judenzopf - The Judenkomposita in the German lexicon haGalil , October 5th 2016th
- ^ Friedrich von Schrötter: The Prussian coinage 1806 to 1873, p. 4.
- ↑ Friedrich von Schrötter: The Prussian coinage 1806 to 1873, p. 99.
- ^ Friedrich von Schrötter: The Prussian coinage 1806 to 1873, p. 91.
- ↑ a b Richard Ohly: A contribution to the history of the Jewish pennies, p. 294.
- ↑ a b c Richard Ohly: A contribution to the history of the Jewish pennies, p. 291.
- ↑ a b c d Richard Ohly: A contribution to the history of the Jewish pennies, p. 292.
- ↑ a b c d Richard Ohly: A contribution to the history of the Jewish pennies, p. 293.
- ^ Paul Joseph and Eduard Fellner: The coins of Frankfurt am Main together with an introduction to the history of coins, Volume 2, p. 855.
- ^ Richard E. Hauser: Frankfurt Jews in coinage. In: Frankfurter Israelitisches Gemeindeblatt, April 1933, Volume 11, No. 8, pp. 183–188, here pp. 186–187, ZDB -ID 984351-6 .