Coin Contract
A coinage contract or a coinage convention is a legally binding agreement between several coin stands (or mint owners) who exercise their right to coin according to standardized principles. The union of these contractual partners is also known as the Münzverein . If these treaties are concluded between states , they are international treaties . Until well into the 19th century, however, regional authorities also had the right to mint, which were not of state quality. Such cities or regions could also be contractual partners in coinage contracts.
Regulation content
Typically, coin contracts regulate which coin denominations are minted with which precious metal content and whether and how these denominations should be divided. To this end, a basic coin weight , such as the Cologne mark , is usually set at around 234 grams of fine silver . This is followed by the definition of a coin base , which determines how many coins of a nominal value, for example the taler , are minted from this basic coin weight. If, for example, 10 thaler are minted from the Cologne mark, one speaks of a 10 thaler foot.
There is also usually a mutual acceptance obligation and the obligation to collect if the weight falls below a specified tolerance due to abrasion. Design principles are agreed to mark the coins as included in the parameters of the coin contract.
historical development
Already in ancient Greece, various city associations agreed on a fixed weight for the Greek drachmas , their multiples and parts. The Roman Empire only ever knew one system of coins that was valid throughout the empire. There was therefore no need for a coin agreement.
In the late Middle Ages , the Wendish Mint Association was founded between several Hanseatic cities . The Rheinische Münzverein was of particular importance in western Germany .
In Germany, the reason for the merger to form mint associations was the increasing loss of ability of the empire to enforce a uniform mint policy. The imperial coinage regulations of the 16th century were only partially successful. Münzvereine tried to achieve at least regionally uniform standards on a voluntary basis.
The monetary system in the Franconian, Swabian and Bavarian districts, damaged in the Thirty Years' War by “Kipper and Wipper” (deterioration of coins due to inferior alloy and too low weight) was to be restored with a coinage convention passed in Würzburg in 1624 .
Further examples in modern times were the Zinnaer Münzverein of 1667 and the Bavarian-Austrian coinage convention of 1753. In the 19th century in Germany the Munich Mint Agreement of 1837, with which the South German Mint Association was founded, the Dresden Mint Agreement of 1838 and the Vienna Mint Agreement from 1857 of particular importance. In addition to other factors, they formed the basis for the introduction of the imperial currency through the imperial coin laws of 1871 and 1873. However, they focused the standardization on the Kurant coins . With the exception of the Munich Coin Treaty, there was hardly any standardization of the small coins for the member states of the South German Coin Treaty.
Some western and southern European countries joined together in 1865 to form the Latin Monetary Union , the Scandinavian states in 1872 to form the Scandinavian Monetary Union .
See also
literature
- Reiner Cunz: From Taler to Mark - Introduction to the history of coins and money in Northern Germany from 1500 to 1900 , Lower Saxony Coin Cabinet of the Deutsche Bank, 5th edition, Hanover 1998, ISBN 3-924861-25-0 .
- Hermann Junghans, Developments and convergences in the coinage of the German states between 1806 and 1873 with special consideration of the small coins , contributions to economic and social history - Volume 131, Pages 103-140, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-515 -11837-8
- Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Old measures, coins and weights. A lexicon. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, licensed edition Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-411-02148-9 , p. 389.
- Thomas Mayer: Chapter "A history of failures" in: Europe's unfinished currency , page 45-77, Wiley Verlag, Weinheim 2013, ISBN 978-3-527-50723-8 .
- Wolfgang Trapp: Small handbook of coinage and the monetary system in Germany. , Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-15-018026-0 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Max Döllner : History of the development of the city of Neustadt an der Aisch up to 1933. Ph. C. W. Schmidt, Neustadt a. d. Aisch 1950, OCLC 42823280 ; New edition to mark the 150th anniversary of the Ph. C. W. Schmidt publishing house, Neustadt an der Aisch 1828–1978. Ibid 1978, ISBN 3-87707-013-2 , p. 233 f.
- ↑ Junghans, page 139