Margarethenroschen

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Ernst, Albrecht, Wilhelm III. with Margaretha (1475–1482), pointed groschen 1475, so-called Margarethen groschen.
Margaretha, Electress of Saxony, daughter of Archduke Ernst I of Austria, had the right to mint in Colditz from 1463. ( Portrait around 1580 by Antoni Boys called Anton Waiss)

The so-called Margarethengroschen are the Meissnian-Saxon groschen of the Colditz mint, minted from 1456 to 1477, with an additional M at the beginning or within the legend. The M refers to Margaretha  (* around 1416, † 1486), wife of Elector Frederick II (1428–1464) of Saxony . Margaretha appears on coins from 1456 as an illegal mint princess because she put her name letter in front of that of the elector and also had sole mints made, although she only got the right to mint from the emperor in September 1463 .

Coin history

Elector Friedrich II established the Colditz Mint for his wife (copper engraving by Balthasar Jenichen 1560/1621)

The fact that Elector Friedrich II. (The Meek) established his own coin in Colditz in 1456 for his wife Margaretha, daughter of Archduke Ernst I of Austria , as compensation for the high treasure to which she is entitled, is to be regarded as an extraordinary event in the history of coins in Saxony allowed her to have what she did minted there. Your brother-in-law, Duke Wilhelm III. (1445-1482) of Thuringia, was against the coinage in the mint of electress because the large quantities of to 1463 beaten Colditzer dime could be made possible only by special silver deliveries of Electors and he does not like the mints Freiberg and Leipzig due to the Schlagschatz had his share.

Dispute over coin presumption

Since the Electress had her name letter placed in front of that of the Elector on the first shield penny of 1456, this could be understood as a sign of the presumption of coins, as she did not have the right to coin. Duke Wilhelm III. Immediately and successfully objected to the coinage in Colditz. The result of the dispute, however, was only the change of the name sequence M (argaretha) F (riedrich) to F (riedrich) M (argaretha). The elector himself appeared again as the mint owner . Duke Wilhelm had to come to terms with this, as there was no longer any legal objection.

The Electress's right to mint

The negative attitude of Duke Wilhelm towards the Electress Margaretha may have prompted the Elector, a year before his death, with Emperor Friedrich III. to ensure that his wife receives the right to mint in Colditz in a letter of September 1463 in the name of his two sons Ernst and Albrecht until the end of her life. The only condition for exercising the right to mint was that the same shot and grain should be minted in your coin as in the Freiberg and Leipzig mints.

In an article about the coins and the coinage of the Electress, F. FRIEDENSBURG mentions a document dated September 28, 1463 with the interpretation that Elector Friedrich II granted his wife Margaretha the right to mint after Emperor Friedrich III. had allowed her to have coins struck as a princess:

I. 1463 September 28th Elector Friedrich confers for himself and his sons his wife, after they brought to him that the Emperor Friedrich III. (Her brother) she “gave and provided that she might let coins as a princess”, and after she had asked him (the elector) “to allow coins ire life days to also allow” the right to coin, “so the same unzerothed love mowed nu vorbasz more so long she lives eyne eygene coin zcu have colditz, groschen, nuwe and alde pfennige and heller uff grain, scrap and other things like everything in our coins zcu Fribergk adir andirswo zcu is currently beaten and held, […] ”. The talent of Emperor Frederick that was attracted here has not yet been found. But one can imagine the matter in such a way that the main concern of the parties involved was to provide for the Electress for the time of her widowhood, which is why the right to mint was granted in the name of the sons [...].

Coin agreement

After the death of Elector Friedrich II on September 7, 1464, Wilhelm's attitude towards the Electress changed. From 1465 he minted again in community with his cousins ​​in the mints of Freiberg, Gotha , Leipzig, Wittenberg and Zwickau as well as with the Electress Margaretha in Colditz.

Groschen with an additional "K"

As an example and evidence of a coin law and coin history peculiarity similar to that of Margarethengroschen, FRIEDBERG named the "Katharinengroschen". The additional letter K on the shield groschen with the mintmaster's mark "Mohnkopf" on the back of the Freiberg mintmaster Nicolaus Monhaupt was used to refer to the Margravine Katharina , daughter of Duke Heinrich of Braunschweig , wife of Frederick the Disputable (1381–1428). These shield groschen with the new letter K for the identification of the Freiberg Mint were wrongly regarded as so-called Katharinengroschen in the past. From the coin files of the Saxon and Thuringian archives, Paul Bamberg clearly demonstrates that in connection with a new coinage system (1456), the shield groschen received the additional K as a mint mark to denote the Freiberg mint. (At the same time, an L for the Leipzig mint and a T for the Gotha mint were specified in these coin regulations)

Occasionally, the false coin name Katharinengroschen for the Meissner shield groschen, which exists in the older numismatic literature, appears with an additional K.

The pennies

All groschen mentioned here come from the mint of Electress Margaretha and have an additional M in the legend. Margaret groschen occur in the grosch types shield groschen, sword groschen, 6-Hellergroschen, pointed groschen and ½ pointed groschen. In addition, are pennies and Heller of electress known.

Margaretha's first shield egg from 1456 without a mintmaster's mark , in which she appears as an illegal mint princess, was published by KFW ERBSTEIN in 1816 with the following considerations:

In addition, all of these newly discovered Margarethen groschen do not have a mintmark on either the main or reverse side [...] which is not only a very unusual case, but also seems to be based on the intention [...] that this genus Groschen were minted by the Electress Margaretha in the absence of her husband, namely [...] before the year 1463, when she perhaps thought about her brother, the Emperor Friedrich III. to ask for the right to coin, or had already asked and her previously accepted mint master Peter Schwalbe (Schwabe) did not dare to use his mint mark here […].

Why mint master Peter Schwabe minted Margaretha's shield groschen from 1456 without a mint master mark is unknown. In fact, however, there are no known groschen of the Electress with a mintmaster's mark, which she had minted as an illegal mint princess.

Issues 1456–1477

Elector Friedrich II. And Duke Wilhelm III. together with the Electress Margaretha around 1456

  • Shield egg without mmz. , probably only coined for a short time, name sequence F (riedrich) W (ilhelm) / M (argaretha). Kur- and Rautengranzschild above the lily cross, Freiberg grosch type. At KRUG there is only one single item with counter stamp (KRUG 1101). Since Wilhelm was against the coinage in Colditz, the coinage with his name was probably stopped again quickly.

Elector Friedrich II. With his wife Margaretha 1456–1464

  • Shield dime without MMZ., Embossed 1456, name sequence M (argaretha) F (riedrich) / M (argaretha). In the quatrefoil is the lily cross , above it the Landsberg stake shield . On the back you can see the Meißner lion rising to the left , holding the pole shield in front of him (KRUG 1102–1129). On the common shield groschen minted in 1456 between the elector and his wife, the elector appears as an illegal mint princess, as she was only granted the right to mint by the emperor in September 1463. These groschen were minted without a mint master mark.
  • New shock groschen or 6 Heller groschen without coin, in the field an f, probably coined in 1456/1457, name sequence M (argaretha) F (riedrich) / M (argaretha). On the front there is the flower cross in quatrefoil with the Landsberg stake shield, on the back the Meissen lion rising to the left. At KRUG there is only one single item without a picture (KRUG 1199). Margaretha appears on the penny as an illegal coin princess. The minting took place without a mint master's mark.
  • Sword groschen according to the coinage system of 1456/57, in quatrefoil the flower cross, above the Kurschild with the two crossed Kurschwerters. On the back is the Meissen lion rising to the left with a stake shield, Mmz. Double cross, but mostly referred to as a patriarchal cross despite the crossbar of the same length, minted 1457/1463, name sequence F (riedrich) / M (argaretha) (KRUG 1130–1198). After a successful objection by Duke Wilhelm III. von Thuringia against the coinage in Colditz with the Electress as mint princess appears from 1457 to 1463 through the change of the name sequence in FM to the Colditz Groschen, the elector now himself as mint owner. They were now produced in large quantities. The mass minting can be explained by the fact that Elector Friedrich II did not give anything to his brother Duke Wilhelm III of the coin he won. had to give up (see KRUG p. 150).

Colditzer Hohlheller were minted as accessories around 1461/1463 (KRUG 1200/1201).

The well-known horn groschen of the Colditz mint, minted between 1465 and 1469, were not minted in association with Margaretha.

Electress Margaretha as mint princess with Elector Friedrich II. September 1463–1464

  • Sword groschen with the Kurschild above the flower cross, Mmz. Double cross, name sequence M (argaretha) F (riedrich) (KRUG 1202–1208). With the granting of the right to mint by Emperor Friedrich III. to the Electress Margaretha in September 1463 the authorization of the name sequence MF was given.

Electress Margaretha alone 1456–1465

  • Shield egg with the stake shield above the lily cross, without a coin, struck in 1456 by the Electress solely as an illegal mint princess. Your name letter M (argaretha) is present at the beginning of the romanization on both sides of the penny. KRUG only has one single item (no. 1212 a).

The Electress also had Colditzer Hohlpfennige (KRUG 1209/1210) as an upper wafer and Hohlheller as an accessory (KRUG 1211/1212) minted.

Elector Ernst, Duke Albrecht, Duke Wilhelm III. with Electress Margaretha 1475–1482

  • Pointed Groschen 1475, Mmz. Double cross, name sequence E (rnst) W (ilhelm) A (lbrecht) / M (argaretha) (KRUG 1593–1600). Inside a pointed three-pass the diamond wreath shield, slightly curved on one side, the Landsberger pile shield on the opposite side in the same border.
  • Pointed groschen 1477 as before, Mmz. Shamrock and half a rose (KRUG 1601, 1602).
  • ½ Pointed Groschen 1475 Mmz. Double cross, name sequence E (rnst) W (ilhelm) A (lbrecht) / M (argaretha) (KRUG No. 1603–1606). On the front in the middle of a three-pass , the diamond wreath shield is embossed. The reverse shows a large lion shield. The half pointed groschen are heavier and larger than the whole, as their fineness is correspondingly low (½ pointed groschen: fineness 312 ‰, diameter 25 mm, pointed groschen: fineness = 937 ‰, diameter = 21 mm).

Electress Margaretha alone (1464) 1475–1482

  • Pointed Groschen 1475 Mmz. Double cross. Her name M (argaretha) is on the front. At KRUG there is only one single item (No. 1607) without an illustration (extremely rare).
  • ½ Pointed Groschen 1475 Mmz. Double cross. On the front is the name M (argaretha). At KRUG only two unique pieces (nos. 1608 and 1609) are given (extremely rare).

Both types are only from 1475 at KRUG. The mint master's mark double cross is on both sides of the groschen. They were minted after the simultaneous coin reform.

The mint masters

Mint master from to Mintmaster's mark
Peter Schwabe 1456 1477 ‡ (double cross), also without mm.
Augustin Horn and Heinz Martersteck 1477 1481 (?) Shamrock and half rose

See also

literature

  • Gerhard Krug: The Meissnian-Saxon Groschen 1338–1500 , Berlin 1974.
  • Walther Haupt: Saxon coinage . German Verl. D. Wiss., Berlin 1974.
  • Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatics , Berlin 1976.
  • Friedrich von Schrötter (ed.), With N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer, J. Wilcke: Dictionary of Coin Studies , de Gruyter, Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930).
  • Otto F. Müller: Otto Merseburger Collection comprising coins and medals from Saxony, sales catalog , Leipzig 1894.

Web links

  • mcsearch.info: Elector Friedrich II. with his wife Margaretha 1456–1464, Margaretha appears as an illegal mint princess (name sequence MF), Schildgroschen undated, minted 1456
  • mcsearch.info: Elector Friedrich II. with his wife Margaretha 1456–1464. The elector is the mint owner (name sequence FM). Sword groschen undated, minted 1457/1464.
  • mcsearch.info: Electress Margaretha as mint princess with Elector Friedrich II (name sequence MF), September 1463–1464, sword groschen undated
  • coinarchives: Elector Ernst, Duke Albrecht, Duke Wilhelm III. with Electress Margaretha (1475–1482), ½ pointed groschen 1475
  • mcsearch.info: Electress Margaretha (1475–1482), ½ pointed groschen 1475

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde . German Verl. D. Wiss., Berlin 1974, p. 75.
  2. ^ Gerhard Krug: The Meissnisch-Saxon Groschen 1338–1500 , Berlin 1974, p. 159.
  3. ^ Gerhard Krug: The Meissnisch-Saxon Groschen 1338–1500 , Berlin 1974, p. 83.
  4. ↑ Elfie-Marita Eibl: Margaretha II of Austria , in: Sächsische Biografie, ed. from the Institute for Saxon History and Folklore eV, arr. by Martina Schattkowsky.
  5. ^ Gerhard Krug: The Meissnisch-Saxon Groschen 1338–1500 , Berlin 1974, p. 83.
  6. ↑ Gerhard Krug: The Meissnisch-Saxon Groschen 1338-1500 , Berlin 1974, p. 85.
  7. ↑ Ferdinand Friedensburg: The coins and the coinage of Electress Margaretha von Sachsen , in Zeitschrift für Numismatik 32 (1930), p. 83. ( digitized version ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); PDF; 1.8 MB)
  8. ↑ Ferdinand Friedensburg: The coins and the coinage of Electress Margaretha von Sachsen , in Zeitschrift für Numismatik 32 (1930), p. 86. ( Digitized version ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); PDF; 1.8 MB)
  9. ^ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde . German Verl. D. Wiss., Berlin 1974, p. 74.
  10. ↑ Incorrect name "Katharinengroschen"
  11. ↑ mcsearch incorrectly referred to as the so-called Katharinengroschen.
  12. ↑ Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Erbstein: Numismatic fragments in relation to Saxon history , volumes 1–3, pp. 41–45, supplement (Margarethengroschen), Dresden 1816, p. 43. ( digitized version )
  13. ↑ Gerhard Krug: The Meissnisch-Saxon Groschen 1338-1500 , Berlin 1974, p. 177.