Bautzen Mint

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From a mint in Bautzen , thin pennies of the Margrave of Upper Lusatia are known from around 1124 . From around 1140 to 1304, the mint minted bracteates . The Elector of Saxony, Johann Georg II. (1656–1680), had the Bautzen Mint rebuilt in his neighboring country of Upper Lusatia in 1666 for the minting of land coins . The special character of the mint should the in the imperial lands encircling and lighter than in Reichsfuß be equivalent prescribed coins. Since the measure in Bautzen proved to be a failure, the mint was shut down again in 1667 and its equipment was brought to the Dresden mint . There, the Upper Lusatian third and sixth thaler were struck for a while with the year 1668.

history

Bracteatic time

Thin pennies of the margrave of Upper Lusatia at a mint in Bautzen are known as early as 1124 to 1135. Around 1140 to 1304 bracteates of the Margrave of Meißen , King of Bohemia , Governor of Upper Lusatia , Margrave of Brandenburg and Bishop of Meißen were struck in Bautzen .

Documented in 1268 under the Brandenburg margraves was an ancient coin in Bautzen, which was supplemented in the same year by a newly founded Görlitz coin, with which it was to be minted alternately every year.

Thaler time

On the Leipziger Münzprobationstag of 3 February 1666. His summed Upper Saxon Circle the decision that up to the order of coinage by a new empire decision it should be free every coin level, an interim coin (including land coin or Ursualmünze called) to beat that appeal to the still no longer need to adhere to the valid imperial coinage order of 1559. This resolution gave Elector Johann Georg II the legal basis for the minting of land coins in the Bautzen mint, which was built especially for this purpose in 1666, and after its shutdown in Leipzig in 1669, minting could be resumed.

The Swiss , Burgundian and Dutch thalers were brought out in 9⅔ pieces from the fine marrow . Yet they were as full crowns in addition to the Reichstalern adopted and issued even though the Reichstaler after Reichsfuß, the Saxons had joined in 1571, were marked to 9 dollars from the fine cord. The elector, who wanted to create coins suitable for trade with Silesia and Bohemia for his margraviate of Upper Lusatia, speculated on this by having a lighter mint in Bautzen. For every 100 Reichstalers delivered, 118 counts were to be struck new coins. The hoped-for profit did not materialize, however.

In the mint of Bautzen, the following coins were issued in 1666 and 1667, which are identified as Upper Lusatian coins by the Upper Lusatian coat of arms under the coat of arms of the Elector and Saxony and the inscription MONETA SVPERIORIS LVSTATIAE (translation: Upper Lusatia coin):

  • ⅓ Taler = 8 groschen
  • ⅙ thalers = 15 kreuzers
  • 6 cruisers
  • 3 cruisers
Half a Schautaler 1666, to the newly established Bautzen mint

In addition, soon after the establishment of the mint, a commemorative coin in the shape of half a thaler, which is very rare today, was minted as a half thaler on the newly established Bautzen mint. The translation of the inscription on the back of the commemorative coin reads according to the Erbstein brothers: When the most serene prince and lord, Mr. Johann Georg the Other, etc., repeated and confirmed the ordinance that coins should be used in Bautzen for Upper Lusatia, such a monument was erected . The characters above the inscription on the reverse are not part of the signature of the medalist or the mintmaster 's mark, but the Greek letters α. et. ω. (Alpha and Omega). Wilhelm Ernst Tentzel wrote the explanation:

[...] On the other side only an inscription , which starts from the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet / Alpha and Omega, / and opens Christum deudet / who speaks in the Revelation of St. John on the first chapter: I am the A and the O, the beginning and the end / the first and the last .

Because of the poor administration of the mint and the concerns of the electoral Saxon estates, the minting operation was closed as early as 1667. After that, the stamps from the Bautzen mint were used for a while longer in the Dresden mint to mint the third and sixth thalers with the year 1668 for Upper Lusatia.

After the unsuccessful speculation, the miner Jonas Zipfel, who had been entrusted with the management of the mint in Bautzen by the elector, tried his luck in Leipzig with the production of inferior coins with just as little success.

Place of the mint

Lt. Walther Haupt, the place of the mint can still be seen today in a house in Bautzener Hohen Gasse with mighty cellars . Information on the location of the mint in Bautzen is also given in the description of the Engelhard collection. The Erbstein brothers mentioned the building in which minting took place:

[…] From this (Jonas Zipfel) , who was exposed to a salary of 400 guilders Meissner currency according to the appointment decree of January 30, 1666 , the house belonging to Peter Scheffler on what is now Hohenstrasse zur Münze was set up, on which a half-thaler-shaped one was soon added The commemorative coin appeared […] .

Mint master of the Bautzen mint

Mint master from to Mintmaster's mark comment
Hennig Ilders 1666 1667 HI, hooks, crossed hooks Relocated to Dresden in 1668
Constantin Rothe 1668 CR, acorn on the branch Embossing for Upper Lusatia in Dresden with Bautzen stamps; Repealed in 1668

See also

literature

  • Walther Haupt : Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974
  • Julius Erbstein , Albert Erbstein : Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history when listing the Hofrath Engelhardt'schen collection , Dresden 1888
  • Christian A. Kohl: Tal parts of the Electorate of Saxony. Type catalog Albertine Line 1546–1763 , Leipzig 1994
  • Wieland Clauß, Helmut Kahnt: The Saxon-Albertine coins 1611–1694 , Regenstauf 2006
  • Otto F. Müller: Otto Merseburger Collection comprising coins and medals from Saxony, sales catalog , Leipzig 1894
  • Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatics , Berlin 1976
  • Friedrich von Schrötter , N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer, J. Wilcke: Dictionary of Coin Studies , Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930)

Web links

  • Bracteat 1130-1150, Margraviate Meißen , Margrave Konrad (1127–1156), Bautzen Mint, in the interactive catalog - Münzkabinett der Staatliche Museen Berlin, under map / Europe / Germany / Mint - Bautzen. Description of the coin: In the frame with concentric rings there is a three-tower castle complex. A bird on each of the outer towers, swastika on the left next to the central tower and a star on the right.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ coinarchives: Mark county Meissen, Konrad the Great of Wettin (1123 to 1156). Bracteate, Bautzen.
  2. ↑ coinarchives: Oberlausitz, Landes rule Wladislaus II of Bohemia (1158-1173).. Bracteate, Bautzen or Görlitz.
  3. ↑ Central Technical Committee Numismatics Berlin: Historical Mints on the Territory of the GDR , Part 1, Numismatics Hefte No. 22, Berlin 1986, p. 7
  4. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 31
  5. ↑ mcsearch ⅓ Taler 1666 HI Bautzen. For the Upper Lusatia. C / K 447
  6. ↑ Julius and Albert Erbstein: Discussions in the field of Saxon coin and medal history with the listing of Hofrath Engelhardt's collection , Dresden 1888, p. 226
  7. ^ Wilhelm Ernst Tentzel: SAXONIA NUMISMATICA, ALBERTINISCHE LINIE , Frankfurt, Gotha 1714, p. 564. Reprint, Berlin 1981
  8. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , Berlin 1974, p. 149
  9. ↑ Julius and Albert Erbstein: Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history with reference to the Hofrath Engelhardt'schen collection , Dresden 1888, p. 218