Kronentaler
The Kronentaler, also Krontaler or Brabanter Taler (Dutch: Kronenthaler; French: Couronne de Brabant or Croison; Italian: Tallero delle corone or Crocione) is a large silver coin that was a safe value in times of war and crisis. It was minted 1755–1780 in the Austrian Netherlands , 1780–1812 in other hereditary lands of the House of Austria-Lorraine as well as in England and 1809–1837 in southern German states.
Maria Theresa, Franz I.
In the Austrian Netherlands, the Kronentaler in 1755 replaced the Ducaton introduced in 1618 (gross weight 33.23 g). Compared to this, with an unchanged fineness of 873, it has a reduced gross weight of 29.44 g. The diameter is 40 mm. Compared to the convention thaler according to the coinage convention of 1753 (fineness 833, rough weight 28.06 g), the crown thaler was slightly overrated.
Like the Patagon or Albertustaler minted in the Habsburg Netherlands 1612–1712, the Kronentaler is recognizable on the Burgundian cross . Until the death of Maria Theresa's husband, Emperor Franz I (1765), part of the Kronentaler was minted in his name. In Maria Theresa's coinage , the Burgundy cross can be seen on the obverse , while the reverse shows the imperial eagle (with empty fangs ). There are four crowns between the arms of the cross . On the other hand, the side with the imperial eagle (with sword and scepter ) forms the obverse of Franz I's crown talers, while the side with the Burgundy cross forms the lapel. Instead of the fourth crown, the lower corner of the cross is occupied by the Order of the Golden Fleece . Whole and half crown thalers of both spouses were minted in Antwerp until 1757/58 ( mint mark : hand), from then on in Brussels (angel's head).
Joseph II., Leopold II., Franz II.
The obverse of the crown thalers of the subsequent emperors shows the ruler's head instead of the imperial eagle. Instead of minting in Brussels, Joseph II minted full crowns from 1781–1790 and half crowns from 1786–1790 in Vienna (A), Kremnica (B) and Milan (M). Under him, from 1788–1790 in Vienna, Kremnica and Günzburg (H), the minting of quarter crowns was taken up. From 1790 to 1792 Leopold II minted whole and half crown thalers in Vienna, Günzburg and Milan, quarter crown thalers in Vienna, Kremnica and Günzburg.
Under Francis II , in view of the military defeats against France , part of the coinage was shifted to secondary mints. There are whole and half crown thalers from the years 1792–1800 from Vienna, Kremnica, Prague (C), Alba Iulia (E), Hall (F), Baia Mare (G), Günzburg and Milan (only whole), quarter crown thalers from the years 1792–1797 from Vienna, Kremnica, Prague, Alba Iulia and Baia Mare. Kronentaler with the mint mark M and the year 1800 were made until 1812. England coined at least 30 million Kronentaler to support its ally Austria.
South German princes
The South German princes minted after 24 guilders - foot (1 Cologne mark of silver = 24 guilders), Austria after 20 guilder foot . Correspondingly, the Kronentaler was valued at 2 gulden 42 kreuzers in southern Germany compared to 2 gulden 15 kreuzers in Austria (convention thaler: 2 gulden 24 kreuzers in southern Germany, 2 gulden in Austria). The Kronentaler retained its importance as a means of payment in southern Germany, even after Austria stopped its production. That is why the princes began to shape it in a different form in their own country (as in Bavaria 1809, Württemberg 1810, Baden 1813, Nassau 1816, Hessen-Darmstadt 1819). As with the guilder, however, the weight of the mark, which differed slightly from state to state, led to differences in the silver content.
In order to replace the worn half and quarter crown thalers, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hessen-Darmstadt, Nassau and Frankfurt created a uniform guilder according to the 24½ guilder foot with a fineness of 900 and a gross weight of 10 with the Munich coin agreement in 1837 , 61 g. The Kronentaler, which has not been minted since then, replaced double guilders from 1845 onwards. In 1846 there were still around 62 million Kronentaler in circulation in southern Germany, of which 10 million were from Brabant, 41 million from Austria, 9 million from Bavaria and 2 million from other southern German states. In Switzerland , too , the “Brabänter” remained in circulation until the coin reform of 1850. In the German Empire in 1874 it was suspended. The redemption was made for 2 gulden 42 kreuzers or 1 thaler 16¼ silver groschen .
literature
- Viktor von Miller zu Aichholz , August Loehr , Eduard Holzmair : Austrian coins from 1519–1938. 2nd edition, 2 volumes, Federal collection of medals, coins and money tokens, Vienna 1948.
- Kurt Jaeger : The coinage of the German states from the exit of the old Reich to the introduction of the Reich currency, volume 2 ( Baden , Frankfurt , Kurhessen , Hessen-Darmstadt , Hessen-Homburg ). 2nd edition, Coins and Medals AG, Basel 1969; Volume 3 ( Peter Jaeckel : The coinage of the House of Habsburg 1780-1918 and the Republic of Austria since 1918 ). 4th edition, Münzen und Medaille AG, Basel 1970, pp. 21, 51 f., 67, 81–83; Volume 5 ( Kingdom of Bavaria 1806–1871, Berg 1801–1808, Würzburg 1813–1815). 3rd edition, Coins and Medals AG, Basel 1969; Volume 7 ( Duchy of Nassau , Kingdom of Westphalia , Principalities of Waldeck and Pyrmont , Lippe-Detmold and Schaumburg-Lippe ). 2nd edition, Coins and Medals AG, Basel 1969.
- Tassilo Eypeltauer: Corpus nummorum regni Mariae Theresiae. The coinage of the Empress Maria Theresa and her co-regents Emperors Franz I and Joseph II. 1740–1780. Coins and Medals AG, Basel 1973, p. 19, 286–288, 382 f.
- Friedrich Wielandt : Baden coin and money history. 3rd edition, Verlag G. Braun, Karlsruhe 1979, ISBN 3-7650-9014-X .
- Ulrich Klein , Albert Raff: The Württemberg coins from 1798–1873. A catalog of types, variants and samples. Publishing house of the coin and medal dealership, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-9802706-1-0 .
Web link
Individual evidence
- ^ Friederich Gottfried Jäger: Contributions to the history of the coinage in Württemberg. J. Kreuzer, Stuttgart 1840, p. 38 f. ( Digitized version )
- ^ Friederich Gottfried Jäger: Contributions to the history of the coinage in Württemberg. J. Kreuzer, Stuttgart 1840, p. 37 f. ( Digitized version ).
- ↑ Ferdinand Fliessbach: Latest Münzkunde, illustration and description of the gold and silver coins now in circulation (...) Volume 2, Ernst Schäfer, Leipzig 1853, p. 120 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Cf. Jeremias Gotthelf : Money and Spirit or Reconciliation. 2nd edition, Julius Springer , Berlin 1852, p. 183 ( digitized version ); Peter Proksch: The Kronentaler in Switzerland. In: money trend , 7 f./1998, pp. 67-82.
- ↑ Announcement regarding the suspension of the Kronenthaler, as well as the coins of the convention foot of March 7, 1874 ( digitized version ). The unchanged rate is probably explained by the fact that the small amount of gold contained in old silver coins could be recovered.