Red sigh

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6 Pfennigs 1701, “Red Sigh” from the Leipzig Mint , Mmz. EPH, mint master Ernst Peter Hecht

Red sigh (also called sigh and Leipzig sigh ) is the popular name of the inferior six-pfennig coin that was minted in huge quantities in 1701 and 1702 under the Saxon elector and Polish king August the Strong (1694–1733). The name of these sixes can be traced back to the loss suffered by the population due to the high copper content of the coins.

Coin history

In the years 1701 and 1702, the Leipzig mint in the Electorate of Saxony minted a large number of six-pfennig pieces. These coins initially had a thin layer of high-quality silver, which, however, quickly wore out as it circulated and revealed an almost copper-red coin. The red sighs were made of almost two-soldered silver (122/1000 silver; billon ) and weighed 1.62 g. The inscription "LANDMÜNZ." Means that this coin was a land coin and consequently did not have to comply with the Reich Coin Order , which was actually the case. The expression of the red sigh was based on the inferior Kurbrandenburgischen six pennies with the nickname Rote Sechser (also spit ), which under the elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg (1640-1688) and his successor Friedrich III. (I.)  (1688-1713) were minted from 1676-1711.

August II had two items of the sixes struck in quick succession with the converted face value of 280,000  thalers each. The king made a net profit of 236,000 thalers from both posts. The reigning Leipzig mint master Ernst Peter Hecht survived the financial crisis caused by the inferior sixes unchallenged. The mint master was evidently not responsible for the masses of low-value penny coins with the mint master's mark EPH, which flooded the electorate.

Finger pointing

Portrait of Beichlingen on a "Medal of the fallen [...] Count [...] von A. 1702" - from Köhler's coin amusement. ( Medalist JW Höckner, Dresden Mint .) Beichlingen was blamed for the fraudulent coins .

The king put the blame for the coin fraud on the Grand Chancellor and Privy Councilor Wolf Dietrich Count von Beichlingen , who had fallen out of favor in 1702 because of the execution of a bank counter he had issued ( Beichlingscher Ordenstaler ) in 1702.

Beichlingen, however, denied having caused the sixes to be handed out:

“This [Beichlingen] humbly indicated that he had done nothing without special orders and allowed himself to remind the king that the king himself had ordered the use of the offensive money [...] because of the purchase of certain jewels. He, the Chancellor, presented his concerns, but was not heard. The king himself ordered the creation of a second item [...] in such six's and really enjoyed a net profit of 236,000 thalers from these two items. [...] "

It was the time of the Northern War (1700–1721) against the Swedes , in which August II urgently needed funding.

The devaluation

The following is recorded in the "Conversations Lexicon" of 1831 regarding responsibility for the "plan of the financial company" and its effects:

"Sigh, sigh and red was the name of a low-grade coin of which 1,701 from the leipziger coin went out. Because through them the mark is fine to 32 thalers. was spent, the people arbitrarily reduced their value from 6  pfennigs to 2 pfennigs . King August II ordered them to accept the piece for 3 pfennigs on February 16, 1703, but granted them on April 13. J. to the public that it remained at its current price of 2 pfennigs. The plan for this financial enterprise is said to have originated from Count Beichlingen. In two years more than half a million thalers. such a sigh was pronounced. "

It is not clear who was responsible for issuing the Red Sighs. The inferior sixes were devalued to 3 pfennigs by edict of February 16, 1703. However, the population did not rate them higher than 2 pfennigs and thus achieved further devaluation by edict of April 13, 1703. With that she hurt herself the most, because the state coffers only needed to redeem her with 2 pfennigs. In the end they were only used as tokens .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz Fengler,…: transpress Lexicon Numismatics , p. 358: Seufzer
  2. ^ Gerhard Schön: German coin catalog 18th century , p. 564, No. 23: 6 Pfennig 1701, 1702, Saxony (Red Sigh)
  3. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , p. 170
  4. ↑ search: Brandenburg / Prussia, Friedrich III. 1688–1701, 6 Pfennig 1693 BH, Minden
  5. ^ N. Douglas Nicol: Standard Catalog of German Coins 1601 to Present , 1995, p. 110, Brandenburg, 6 Pfennig 1676-1700
  6. ^ Gerhard Schön: German coin catalog 18th century , p. 95, no. 6: Brandenburg, 6 Pfennig 1690–1695, 1700, p. 96, no. 20, 1703–1711
  7. ↑ Heinz Fengler, ...: transpress Lexicon Numismatics , p. 329: Rote Sechser
  8. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , p. 171
  9. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , p. 169 (Bank totals of this time are thaler coins minted according to the Burgundian foot, a coin foot that was a little lighter than the imperial foot and therefore the thaler was somewhat less valuable than the thaler in the imperial foot.)
  10. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , p. 169
  11. ↑ Walther Haupt Sächsische Münzkunde , p. 171
  12. ↑ General German Real-Encyclopedia for the educated classes (Conversations-Lexikon) , Tenth Volume, Reutlingen 1831, p. 182
  13. ↑ Walther Haupt: Sächsische Münzkunde , p. 170/171