Munich Coin Treaty

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Members of the South German Mint Association
Gulden and half-gulden according to the provisions of the Munich Treaty

The Süddeutsche Münzverein was founded with the Munich Coin Treaty in 1837 . With it the southern German and some central German states harmonized their coinage system. The Munich Coin Treaty was updated by the South German Coin Convention of 1845.

occasion

As early as the 17th and 18th centuries, various German states tried to harmonize the most important parameters for their coinage. The reason for the adoption of the Munich Mint Treaty was the devaluation of the half and quarter gulden coins of the Kronentalerfußes by Baden. The silver coins in the 24 guilder foot of the southern German states had lost a lot of weight due to wear and tear, so that on average they corresponded to a 24½ guilder foot. With the devaluation, the real and the nominal value should be brought more into line again.

Member states

The following states co-founded the South German Mint Association: Bavaria , Württemberg , Grand Duchy of Baden , Hessen-Darmstadt ( Grand Duchy of Hesse ), Duchy of Nassau , and the Free City of Frankfurt .

In 1838 and 1839, Sachsen-Meiningen , Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen , Hohenzollern-Hechingen , Hessen-Homburg and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt joined the minting agreement. The Süddeutsche Münzverein existed until the introduction of the imperial currency in 1871.

Content of the contract

6 cruisers from Hessen-Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Württemberg and uniform value side

The Cologne mark was set at 233.855 grams as the basic coin weight in Article X. From this basic coin weight 24½ guilders were minted (Article II of the treaty), the guilders were divided into 60 kreuzers according to Article III . In a separate agreement in addition to the Munich contract, standardization principles for the larger small silver coins were agreed.

Effects

With the harmonization of its own coin system, the Süddeutsche Münzverein not only standardized the value of the guilder within the treaty area, but also created the basis for currency harmonization with the northern German states through the Dresden Mint Treaty of 1838. 1.75 guilders were now in a fixed ratio one thaler . The larger small coins containing silver were also standardized in terms of design, dimensions and silver content in order to remove obstacles to their mutual acceptance. The relationship between the guilder and the cruisers was now stable. Previously, the southern German states had basically already divided the guilder into 60 kreuzers, but occasionally also calculated more than 60 kreuzers on the guilder. The conditions below the cruiser, however, remained unregulated. The penny could be equivalent to the pfennig in one member state (city of Frankfurt, Hessen-Darmstadt) and half a pfennig (Bavaria) in another member state. Other member states dispensed with the denominations "Pfennig" and "Heller" and designated the smallest copper coins as fractions to the cruiser (1/4 and even 1/8 Kreuzer in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt).

See also

literature

  • Paul Arnold, Harald Küthmann, Dirk Steinhilber: Large German coin catalog from 1800 to today. Battenberg Verlag, Regenstauf 2016/2017, ISBN 978-3-86646-131-4 .
  • Wolfgang Trapp : Small handbook of coinage and the monetary system in Germany . Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-15-018026-0 .
  • Karl Dieter Seidel: German monetary legislation since 1871 . Egon Bauer publishing house, Munich 1973, DNB 760044597 . (Contrary to what the title suggests, the collection of laws also contains the German coin laws of the 19th century before 1871)

Individual evidence

  1. Konrad Schneider: Did the Reich coin reforms have a chance? In: Harz-Zeitschrift. 62nd volume, 2010, p. 121. ( online at: books.google.de )
  2. Wolfgang Trapp: Small handbook of coinage and money in Germany. 1999, p. 98.
  3. ^ Paul Arnold, Harald Küthmann, Dirk Steinhilber: Large German coin catalog from 1800 to today. 32nd edition, pp. 7 and 8.