Royal Mint of Altona

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The Royal Mint of Altona was a mint founded in 1771 by the then sovereign, the Danish King Christian VII. , For the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein as well as for the entire Danish state . The mint mark was an imperial orb .

history

Predecessor: Count's Pinneberg-Schauenburger Mint

In Altona there was a Counts Pinneberg-Schauenburg mint before the royal Danish mint. The Counts of Holstein-Pinneberg , to whom Altona belonged in the 16th and 17th centuries, had coins minted there from 1589 to 1640. The first mint master was Karl Isenbehn (until 1600). Mint officials were still Daniel Kostede (1599–1605), Henning Hanses (1605–1621), Christoph Freistell (1618–1640) and Thomas Eisenbein (1621–1624). Gold ducats and Portugalosers up to a value of 20 ducats (~ 70 g) were minted on gold coins .

Royal Danish coin

In the course of the development of the entire Danish state in the advancing 18th century, the Danish king became sovereign in the County of Pinneberg and thus also in Altona. Proposals for establishing a mint in Altona had been circulating since the middle of the 18th century. On April 18, 1768, a royal resolution was issued to give the city of Altona a concession for a mint. In 1771, the master builder Johann Gottfried Rosenberg (1709–1779) was able to complete a new building for the mint (at the corner of Grosse Johannisstrasse 72 and Annenstrasse).

In the royal mint, coins for the entire Danish state were initially minted. The Altona Mint gained great importance in the course of the currency reform in Schleswig and Holstein in 1788, as large quantities of new coins had to be minted. Among other things, a branch was set up in Poppenbüttel from 1786 (see section below). The new coins of the Schleswig-Holstein species or Courant currency were minted in Altona . A courant currency had already been introduced in neighboring Hamburg in 1725 . In addition, coins came for the territories in Oldenburg and Lauenburg, which were also administered from Copenhagen for a time. During the Schleswig-Holstein War in 1850/51, original Schleswig-Holstein triplets and sextuplets were minted.

The mint was struck until 1861. The mint's building in Altona was destroyed in a bomb attack on Hamburg in 1943 and demolished in 1947.

Branch in Poppenbüttel

At times there was a branch in Poppenbüttel , at that time a village north of Hamburg. From 1786 to 1789, large amounts of whole speciestalers down to 1/24 pieces were minted. Furthermore, were Albertus thaler and travel Taler coined. Copper sheets for the 1-Skilling Danske cutting coins from 1771 were also produced on semi-finished products .

The Hamburg confectioner and entrepreneur Hinrich Christian Olde had been running a "copper mill" since the 1760s. H. a water- powered factory for copper products in Poppenbüttel. He expanded the copper mill to include a smelting plant for silver. In 1786 he had to sell the business to the Danish king for 40,000 thalers. Olde remained operations manager and leased the Altona Mint for 800 Reichstaler per year and 1/4% of the amount paid out. These transactions served to prepare for the introduction of the "new" Schleswig-Holstein species currency two years later. Since energy and labor were cheaper in Poppenbüttel than in Altona, he also produced coins in Poppenbüttel.

Olde died in 1789; Coins were minted in Poppenbüttel until 1808.

staff

  • Michael Flor (MF) was appointed mint master in 1786.
  • Heinrich Lorenz headed the mint from 1848 to 1858.
  • Johann Heinrich Wolf was one of the first medalists in Altona.
  • The Dane Hans Frederik Alsing (1800–1871) was the mint master from 1856 until the mint closed . His career in Altona began in 1825; Among other things, he worked there as a die cutter (1840) and Wardein (control officer of the mint) (1842).

Imprints

Among other things, the following were minted in Altona:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ George S. Cuhaj, Thomas Michael: Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins. 1601-Present. 6th revised edition. Krause Publications, Iola (WI, USA) 2009, ISBN 978-1-4402-0424-1 , p. 611.
  2. ↑ a b Julius Wilcke: Kurantmønten 1726–1788. København 1927, pp. 179-208. (online at: danskmoent.dk , Danish)
  3. ↑ a b Royal Mint (formerly), Hamburg - Altona-Altstadt (Hamburg), Nopitschstrasse. on: bildindex.de
  4. ↑ Poppenbüttel. on: danskmoent.dk (Danish)
  5. ^ Julius Wilcke: Specie-Kurant- og Rigsbankdaler. Copenhagen 1929, p. 17ff. (online at: danskmoent.dk , Danish)
  6. ↑ a b Nils Inselmann: Copper at the copper pond? The copper pond and its mills. In: Jürgen Mirow (ed.): Poppenbüttel - portrait of a district. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2003, ISBN 3-8334-0169-9 , pp. 97-105.
  7. ↑ Orell, Füßli (1816) General Artist Lexicon, or: Brief message about the life and works of painters, sculptors, builders, copper engravers, art foundries, steel cutters cc: In addition to attached lists of teachers and students, including the portraits in this lexicon included artist, volumes 2–3 (Google eBook)
  8. ↑ Hans Frederik Alsing. at Kunstindeks Danmark
  9. ^ Friedrich von Schrötter, N. Bauer: Dictionary of coinage. de Gruyter, Berlin 1970, DNB 458690163 .