Kipper münzstätten (Kursachsen)

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60 tipper groschen ( Kippertaler to 60 groschen) from 1622 of the tipper mint Pirna , Mmz. GS ( monogram )
60 Dresdner Kippergroschen (Kippertaler to 60 Groschen) from 1622, Mmz. swan flying up

Electoral Saxony Kippermünzstätten are mints in Kurfürstentum axes , in which during the tipper and Wipperzeit 1620-1623 under elector I. Georg Johann (1611 to 1656), so-called tippers coins were minted. Tipper coins are interim or customary coins, i.e. coins with temporary validity. The numerous land mints (kipper mints) were created and leased under the responsibility of the electoral chamber councilor Carl Christoph von Brandenstein .

Causes for the erection of the tipper mints

The tipper and wipper inflation is due to major deficiencies in the Reich coinage system. The decline in silver production and the minting costs were not given enough consideration for the production of change. In 1606, the mint master Heinrich von Rehnen had minted small coins at a loss in the Dresden Mint . The result was a shortage of change, which one tried to remedy with the minting of small coins. This led to a steady increase in the value of the taler . When the Thirty Years War broke out in 1618 , the value of the Reichstaler increased considerably. In Saxony , but also in other parts of the Roman-German Empire , people finally started to mint land coins (interim or common coins). These coins did not comply with the Reich coinage system and were only valid in their own country. The unfettered arbitrariness that developed in the distribution of the inferior money caused the value of the Reichstaler to rise from originally 24  groschen to 300 groschen (June 1622), that is 1250% of the original value!

Construction and operation

Brandenstein as general director of the lease mints

Carl Christoph von Brandenstein, "to whom we ordered the coinage without this ...", said Johann Georg I in a letter of April 17, 1621, was responsible for the minting of the interim coins in Saxony. Although there is a wealth of files from the time of the tipper and luffers, little can be ascertained about Brandenstein's work. All too revealing files have probably been removed. Brandenstein suggested to the elector that the Saxon state coin in Dresden could not supply the state with sufficient coins. In his responsibility in Electoral Saxony, in addition to the Dresden mint, from 1621 “new land mints were created here and there, but they were only circulated as long as the interim coin lasted.” Brandenstein leased the new mints for a fixed treasure that was given to the electoral Cash was payable.

Money tampering in a Kippermünzstätte

Example of bad coinage

"How far the permission for bad coinage went at this time can be seen from the following examples given in Praun's German coinage : Marcus Brun, the leaseholder of a mint in the Chursächsischen town of Hayn , was in the, May 12, 1621 with him, The contract entered into by the then general director of this and other lease coins, Carl Christoph von Brandenstein, was prescribed and abated: He was supposed to mint good, efficient coins, in terms of groschen, single and double Schreckenbergers, the hold and dignity of the ( raw ) mark groschen 4  Loth [= 250 ‰ fineness ] and on 250  pieces [...] - the Schreckenberger however on 4 Loth 14  Grän [= 300 ‰ fineness], the simple ones to 70, the doubled to 35 pieces, manufacture and emboss. For this permission, the mint-tenant was to pay the elector 300  guilders a week, in good, self-minted coins, at a discount. All the coin tenants, foreseeing the short duration of their lease, hurried to gain the greatest possible advantages as quickly as possible without worrying even remotely about the grist and grain of their coins. "

- August Flor : coin states

Tilt and teeter

August Flor also explains the terms “tilting” and “rocking” in his work Münzbedingungen and quotes Christian Meltzer's Schneeberger Chronik (p. 964). - Then are tilt and teeter Lower Saxony words and mean weight to men , replace . The dump trucks and luffers separated the heavy from the light coins using a high-speed scale. What tipped down they kept and exchanged for a small premium.

Declaration by the Erbstein brothers on the lease mints

"[...] the evil [had] been increased by the fact that these minor varieties, [...], soon no longer struck only in Dresden, but also in other places in the country, and that the numerous mints established for this purpose on the unfortunate Council of the creator, of the ministerial councilor Christoph Karl von Brandenstein, who was in charge of the coinage in Kursachsen at that time, had been left to tenants […]. The desolate situation of the population [...] brought about by these mints, in which everything that could only be obtained silver and copper was minted and made worse from bad money, initially led to bitter complaints, later to accusations and attacks on property Life of the unjust minters, the so-called Kipper and Wipper. "

- Julius and Albert Erbstein : Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history

From the Sangerhausen Chronicle

In the lease mints mainly copper was needed for counterfeiting money. This is also reported in the Sangerhausen Chronicle, which Walter Haupt quoted as follows:

“The Sangerhausen Chronicle writes about it: At the present time the bubbles, kettles, tubes, gutters and whatever was made of copper were dug out, carried into the coin and made into money. If an honest man could no longer trust himself to accommodate someone, he would have to worry that the guest would break out the bubbles at night and run away. Where a church has an old baptismal font, it had to go to the coin and did not help it, but sold it [...]. "

- Walther Haupt : Saxon coinage

State falsifications

40 Dresdner Kippergroschen (Kippertaler to 40 Groschen) from 1621, Mmz. swan flying up, mint master Heinrich von Rehnen

The Dresden mint master Heinrich von Rehnen initially refused to issue counterfeit coins and did not give up his mint master's mark until he was released from his service, which had been dropped from the Upper Saxon district . He changed his mint master's mark “swan” to “swan flying up”.

An attempt was made to make the new money popular by embossing the coin image of the Schreckenbergers or angel's groschen, which were particularly highly regarded at the time, and designating them accordingly. In 1621/1622 Johann Georg I had not only tipper coins but also a small number of full taler coins minted in accordance with the Reichsmünzfuß .

The smallest coins were copper pennies minted on one side from the Grünthal copper hammer , which was set up as a branch of the Dresden mint and did not work independently like the other kipper mints, but was subordinate to the Dresden mint master.

Closure of the lease mints

In view of the situation and to prevent further "accusations and attacks on property and life", the elector summoned "the cities of the select committee" to Leipzig . There it was decided on January 11, 1622 that the lease mints would be closed and the sorts struck in them would be withdrawn "to shut down the money-tipping and wipperey". Only the Dresden coins preferred by the population with the Rehn mintmaster's mark were to be tolerated.

The tipper coins from lease minting sites with the year 1622 show, however, that despite the decision of January 11, 1622, occasional minting continued for a short time. Coin minting in Leipzig ceased at the end of 1622, at the latest at the beginning of 1623. Like the Dresdeners, the Annaberg kipper mint was state owned. There were still 1623 tipper coins minted.

Closure of the electoral mints

The end of the minting of interim coins combined with the return to minting according to the imperial coinage order did not come about by the empire, but by the individual countries on different dates.

In a general meeting of the Landscapes convened in Torgau at the beginning of 1623 and held on February 18, 1623 , the fastest possible restoration of the imperial coin foot was demanded. Other princes had already preceded it from 1621 and 1622.

Since the interim coins were constantly being devalued in trade, the elector was forced to initiate reductions on his part and finally to stop the minting of the tipper coins and to have them minted again according to the imperial coinage order, which had never lost its validity. The complete breakdown of the financial system forced the Saxon state to return to orderly conditions. With Johann Georg I's mint dictate of July 31, 1623, there was a full return to the provisions of the Imperial Coin Order of 1559, which Elector August had joined in 1571. Since 1623, the elector had only minted in Dresden. The Reichstaler was again set at 24 groschen, which were now referred to as good groschen . Electoral Saxony was one of the states that had tipper coins minted the longest.

The consequences of the falsification of money in the days of the tipper and wipper were devastating for the country and the people. The contemporaries wrote that "the bad money (from the kipper mints) caused more damage than if an army of 30,000 war peoples had plundered the empire."

Debt repayment

With the edict of July 31, 1623, the repayment of debts was also regulated in Saxony, which had been borrowed with interim money from the kipper mints. If “the prescriptions were only in gold or counting thalers in general”, the debts were “to be paid in good new coins and to be repaid”. The intrinsic value of the loaned thaler was ignored. It was not until 1656 that the elector revoked the edict of 1623.

The locations of the kipper mints in Kursachsen

(after Walther Haupt)

Not all the places where tipper coins were minted have become known. There are also mint marks on tipper coins that are not sure or not at all interpreted.

place Minting time Mint master Mint mark comment
Annaberg 1621-1623 Michael Rothe Acorn on branch see Annaberg Mint, Tipper and Wipper time
Bitterfeld 1621 Barthel Eckardt Acorn without a branch
Chemnitz (Kempnitz) 1621-1622 Christoph Stundheim K
Dresden 1620-1623 Heinrich von Rehnen Swan, swan flying up see Mint Dresden, tipper and rocker times
Eckartsberga 1621 Christian Gerlach, Bernd Hillard EB
Ehrenfriedersdorf 1622 Ring with stone
Eilenburg 1621-1622 E.
Goerlitz 1622-1623 Urban emergency money
Gommern 1621– (1622) Paul Dear Paus Six-pointed star
Grossenhain (grove) 1621 Marcus Brun MB, HAIN, Stachelrose in three parts Legend HAIN (Hayn)
Grünthal 1621-1623 August Rothe see Mint Grünthal, Kipper and Wipper time
Kamenz 1622 Urban emergency money
Langensalza 1621 Andreas Becker Three towers see Langensalza Mint, Kipper and Wipper time
Leipzig 1621-1622 Reinhard Jäger, Erich Jäger Hunting horn between deer antlers, monogram SL is the mint mark of the Leipzig Mint see Mint Leipzig, From the time of the tipper and seesaw to the introduction of the convention foot
Liebenwerda 1621 Jobst Wenighausen L, LW
Lützen 1621 Wilhelm Quendel (?) Cross of four L
Merseburg 1621-1622 Georg Sömmerling Hahn, Patriarchal Cross , MB
Mittweida 1621 (-1622) MZ (?) Urban emergency money made of lead
Naumburg 1621-1622 Georg Oppermann, Kurt Marquart, Sebastian Härtel, Friedrich Ulm N (mint mark 1621), heart, point star, horseshoe
Neustadt an der Orla 1621-1622 Hans Treuttner, Christoph Kraft (1622) N, private label , HT see Mint Neustadt an der Orla
Pirna 1621-1622 Georg Stange Monogram GS, pear on a branch
Sangerhausen 1621 Friedrich Ulm S. see Sangerhausen Mint, tipper and rocker times
Schkeuditz 1621-1622 Heinrich Ulm Monogram HS
Schleusingen 1621-1622 Barthel iron wire S (Erbstein p. 142) for Henneberg (legend Moneta Hennebergica)
Taucha 1621 Matthias von Neuss, David Wölke T Taucha near Leipzig
Tennstedt 1621 fir
Weida 1621-1622 Christoph Sundtheim W.
Zwickau 1621-1622 Adam Prellhoff Anchor, three swans see Zwickau Mint, tipper and rocker times

Apart from the usual Geprägen the Kippermünzstätten which are dime pieces , Tipper Taler , Kreuzer pieces , Schreckenberger and pennies , also very rare to come hermaphrodite coins , silver haircuts and cliffs under the Saxon Tipper coins before.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Suhle: The coin. From the beginning to ... , p. 158
  2. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 133
  3. ^ Paul Arnold: The Saxon Thaler Currency from 1500 to 1763 ..., P. 72/73
  4. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 132
  5. ↑ Dresden Numismatic Booklet No. 1 of the Numismatic Association of Dresden e. V., 1996, p. 27: Gerhard Martin, The Leipzig Mint in the Tipper and Wipper Period, Leipzig City Archives, title files LVI, 5, p. 14.
  6. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde …, p. 133: That cannot be a coincidence.
  7. ^ Johann Friedrich Klotzsch: Attempt at a Chur-Saxon Coin History ..., p. 480
  8. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 137
  9. ↑ August Flor: Münzbedingungen , Altona 1838, p. 7: Kipper and Wipper time
  10. ↑ Julius Erbstein, Albert Erbstein: Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history ..., S. 121/122
  11. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 134
  12. ↑ Julius Erbstein, Albert Erbstein: Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history ..., p. 122
  13. ↑ Dresden Numismatic Booklet No. 1 of the Numismatic Association of Dresden e. V., 1996, p. 34: Gerhard Martin, The Leipzig Mint in the Tipper and Wipper Times .
  14. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 136
  15. ↑ Julius Erbstein, Albert Erbstein: Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history ..., p. 122: For example Duke Christian von Braunschweig, elected bishop of the Minden Monastery, September 14, 1621, Duke Friedrich Ulrich von Braunschweig-Lüneburg , January 18, 1622 among others
  16. ^ Paul Arnold: The Saxon Thaler Currency from 1500 to 1763 ..., p. 75
  17. ↑ Julius Erbstein, Albert Erbstein: Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history ..., p. 122: "The Reichsthaler [was] 24 good groschen, the Reichs-Guldenthaler to 21, the Rhenish gold guilder to 27 and the Ducat set at 36 good groschen [...]. "
  18. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 138
  19. ↑ Julius Erbstein, Albert Erbstein: Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history ..., p. 123
  20. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde ..., p. 203