China money
As porcelain money refers to coins from porcelain .
From 1920 to 1921 the State Porcelain Manufactory in Meißen produced porcelain money for many cities and municipalities in Germany from Böttger stoneware and bisque porcelain. Friedrich Wilhelm Hörnlein, coin engraver and medalist at the Saxon State Mint in Muldenhütten, cut the steel stamps according to drafts that were mainly supplied by Emil Paul Börner , sculptor and painter from Meissen.
The porcelain money is not to be confused with medals or donation medals made of porcelain, which have a value but still had no monetary function.
history
The original porcelain was more of a red-brown color and was comparable to the East Indian porcelain that was widespread at the time. As early as the spring of 1710, after successful firing attempts, the first vessels were presented at the Leipzig Easter Fair. Initially under the direction of Johann Friedrich Böttger, the mixture of the mass components as well as the control of the firing time and firing temperature had been perfected in a complex series of tests to such an extent that on April 30, 1919, the trademark “Böttger stoneware” could be registered with the Reich Patent Office. Thanks to the then director of the Max Adolf Pfeiffer manufactory, the “red mass”, once replaced by white porcelain, succeeded in remaking. Max Adolf Pfeiffer had other ideas as well, so he had carefully chosen a completely different product group to shine in the matt sheen of the recovered material. Coins considered to be real currency were designed, minted and fired in separate kilns in the Meissen Manufactory from 1919 onwards. The shortage of metal money around 1920 in Germany also helped the idea. When the Ministry of Finance in the German Reich was still considering issuing ceramic emergency money, a heated discussion broke out about the advantages and disadvantages of red porcelain stoneware. However, it remained with a few drafts and trial mintings, which the Reich Minister of Finance finally rejected in February 1920. It was not introduced as Reichsgeld.
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Emergency coins for Saxony
After the Meissen manufactory also submitted the first test pieces of a so-called Saxony money in 1920, the State of Saxony decided at the beginning of 1921 as the first state to put emergency money into circulation. The designing artist Emil Paul Börner always succeeded in adding symbols to the coins, in addition to the obligatory indication of value, year and origin, with typical motifs of branches of production and their products, historical buildings and regional things. The sword mark on each coin indicated its origin from the Meissen porcelain factory. Börner proved to be a master of relief art who was able to decoratively implement an artistic statement in the smallest of spaces. The most important feature of the coins from the steel form are their sharp edges and contours. Börner rejected the reducing machine that had been in use since the mid-19th century, which mechanically reduced the design to the desired format. He cut his designs directly into the plaster cast using the sophisticated technique of negative cuts. The decision was then made to use Böttger stoneware as the material for the emergency coins, and not only because of the lower susceptibility to dirt compared to white bisque porcelain. The insensitivity of the mass to water, excellent hygienic properties and high breaking strength played a major role in the decision. The coins have a slight bowl-like indentation on both sides, the main part of the mass is thus on the edge and stabilizes it. This peculiarity enabled a relatively high relief. Coins of equal value could be placed flat on top of each other and packed in rolls. In addition, the intricacies of the interior drawing emerge more clearly with Böttger stoneware. The different behavior of the materials when the coins burned certainly played a major role at the time. The shrinkage during firing should have been taken into account at 16% for white bisque porcelain, whereas it was only 8% for Böttger stoneware. The Meissen Manufactory was commissioned by the Saxon State, represented by the Minister of Finance, to start producing money. However, it was or is still not considered a mint in Saxony or is referred to as such. The engraver Friedrich Wilhelm Hörnlein from the mint in Muldenhütten was delegated to the manufactory for some time to cut the necessary steel dies on site. With the award of the state contract, the Saxon Ministry of Finance demanded special security precautions for the newly founded coin department. When, in addition to the order for Saxony, there were other orders from cities, municipalities and companies in 1921, it became necessary to work in multiple shifts.
Validity and circulation in the Free State of Saxony
In order to remedy the shortage of small change, the main tax office was authorized to issue money substitute symbols made of Meißner brown Böttger stoneware (porcelain emergency money) up to a total value of 5 million marks and to have them issued by state coffers, in pieces with a face value of 20 Pfennig, 50 Pfennig, 1 mark and 2 marks. With the ordinance of the Ministry of Finance in the Free State of Saxony of December 31, 1920, only the pieces with the year 1921 were allowed as money substitute symbols. All pieces with the year number 1920 and the pieces of 5, 10 and 20 marks with the year number 1920 and 1921 were not considered to be money substitutes. They were only collectible. The ordinance restricted acceptance as a substitute currency until December 31, 1921. The pieces were redeemable until January 14, 1922. The pieces were in circulation shortly after they were issued, but they quickly came into collectors' hands and were then not put into circulation again.
Tram money for Meissen
After the First World War, two porcelain coins were issued for the passenger tram in Meißen since 1899 . At the beginning of 1921, the porcelain manufactory produced the 30 and 50 pfennig pieces. In the city administration it was said that it was not emergency money, but tram money . The pieces were officially introduced with an announcement in the "Meißner Tageblatt" on May 5, 1921. However, only the two pieces made of white bisque porcelain were accepted for use on the Meißner tram. The Böttger stoneware pieces with the same motif, on the other hand, were unemployment benefits. The coin designs come from Emil Paul Börner. Both coins quickly found their way into collectors' hands and thus disappeared from circulation.
Color variations
The pieces made from brown Böttger stoneware are not always the same brown color. They often vary from light brown to black brown. This is a result of the uneven fire and the temperature in the furnace. The correct supply of oxygen also plays a major role in a fire. Pieces that have been lying on the edge of the oven are usually darker. Large, conspicuous, strongly deviating colors or damaged coins were then sorted out and pulped. Some undiscovered pieces nevertheless came into circulation. There are also pieces that show traces of black paint or a dark glaze. However, at no point were there any considerations or attempts to embellish the emergency money with a glaze or to make it more durable. The position of the coins during the firing is also very important. The mass, which is still relatively soft after pressing (embossing), is dried until the product can be placed and fired without damage, usually on the obverse. Due to the sometimes very high number of copies, the coins were spread like no other product from the porcelain manufactory.
Fakes
Immediately after their appearance, the makeshift coins that were born out of necessity advanced to become coveted collector's items. In 1921 a counterfeiting workshop was dug up by the police in Meißen. Some of the counterfeiters at the time were employees of the manufacture, had stolen brown and white porcelain mass, secretly made molds of original molds or coins, built molds, shaped coins and then fired them in a specially procured kiln. Not only the emergency coins from Saxony were forged, but also pieces of the brown and white Reichsporzellangeldes, which were never in circulation but were very popular with collectors.
Coin sets in boxes
There are numbered boxes with a full set of coins from 1921, but these boxes are privately made. Only the coins in it come from the Meissen manufactory. The number under the box, usually four-digit, also has no official reference to the manufacture.
literature
- Otto Horn: The coins and medals from the State Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen. Leipzig 1923.
- Karl Scheuch: Coins made of porcelain and clay from the State Porcelain Manufactory in Meißen and other ceramic factories at home and abroad. 4th, exp. With an after. 1978, unchanged. Reprint Strothotte, Gütersloh 1995, ISBN 3-9803482-3-7 .
- Günter Schön / Gerhard Schön: Small German Coin Catalog , 2013, Battenberg Verlag.
- Reiner Graff: Coins made of white gold. Numis-Post, 10/2010, Bad Ragaz, Switzerland.
- numiscontrol: The Saxon emergency coins made of Böttger stoneware from 1920/1921 - a product of the Pfeiffer era . Coins & Collecting, 06/2010, Gietl-Verlag.
- numiscontrol: 300 years of porcelain manufacture. Coins & Collecting, 02/2010, Gietl-Verlag.
- numiscontrol: 300 years of Meissen manufacture. There were also emergency coins made of Böttger stoneware and bisque porcelain. money trend, 03/2010, money trend Verlag, Vienna, Austria.
- Reiner Graff: Pay for the tram with Meissen porcelain. Numispost, 10/2017, Bad Ragaz, Switzerland.
Web links
- Circle of Friends of Ceramic Coins and Medals , Retrieved January 30, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Porcelain coins ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Ordinance of December 31, 1920
- ^ Meißner Tageblatt of May 5, 1921
- ↑ Otto Horn, The coins and medals from the State Porcelain Manufactory in Meißen, Leipzig 1923
- ↑ Riesaer Tageblatt of August 26 and September 17, 1921
