Saxon coin dispute

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Saxon coin dispute was a dispute from 1526 onwards, which revolved around the devaluation of money ( Meißner Groschen ) by adding less silver to the coins. The Catholic Albertines and the Protestant Ernestines faced each other with opposing opinions , the Albertines against one and the Ernestines for a qualitative deterioration in the minting of silver mined together .

Historical background

In the period around 1530 one found itself in the economic theory-historical division in the time of scholasticism . During this time, attempts were made, in the tradition of antiquity , to evaluate the economy and social life under Christian aspects and moral values. While trade was still fought by the church well into the 11th century, this intention subsided until trade was permitted in moderation in the 16th century. From the 12th century, the guild system developed more and more . Long-distance trade existed for the purpose of exchanging luxury goods. The economy was structured agrarian and there was a feudal system based on serfdom . The “ School of Salamanca ” developed in Spain, but it had not yet made a significant contribution to the economic thinking of Saxony at that time.

The reasoning

In the sixteenth century there was moderate inflation , which is seen as beneficial today, but was sometimes seen as a problem at the time. Saxony was dynastically separated at that time. On one side stood the Catholic Albertines, on the other the Evangelical Ernestines. At this time, the princes used the mines jointly and coined the resulting metal together. At the time, the Protestant Elector Johann von Sachsen had a lavish lifestyle and advocated devaluing money. Opposed to this was the Catholic Albertine Duke Georg the Elder .

In this context, the arguments of the two parties are important, as they give an interesting insight into economic policy thinking at the time. The central point of the argument are three leaflets from the time, in which the points of view were recorded.

The Albertines took the view that the country's authorities had to guarantee economic growth. The standard of living increased. The devaluation would bring the princes more money. However, one should keep in mind that the purchasing power of coins depends on the value of the coin. One would not be able to deceive the dealer about the real value. In addition, inflation would affect the economic classes unevenly. Inflation, for example, has a strong impact on pensions.

The Ernestines took the view that the devaluation would make importing luxury goods more difficult. Since the silver would get abroad through the luxury import and thus, according to the opinion of the time, the power of the foreign countries would be strengthened by the wealth of coins, while the Saxon people would remain poor at the same time, a devaluation of the overvalued silver would be desirable. In addition, some scholastics expressed the opinion that interest-bearing should be rejected. (cf. Leonhardus Lessius ) A devaluation would result in lower interest income, which is to be assessed as positive overall.

The counter-argument of the Albertines, however, was that the comparative advantage of Saxony can be seen in silver production and that this should be exploited. A devaluation of the silver would also endanger the profitability of the mines.

On the other hand, the Ernestines argued that a country in which the economy is based only on one product is adversely affected in other economic areas.

literature

  • Rudolf Michaelis: Dr. Georgius Agricola and the Saxon coin dispute around 1530 (=  Sächsische Heimatblätter . Volume 1 ). Sl 1961, OCLC 699697917 .
  • Paul Arnold: Georgius Agricola, 500 years . Ed .: Professor Dr phil habil F. Naumann. Birkhäuser Basel, 1994, ISBN 978-3-0348-7160-0 , Saxon coinage in the first half of the 16th century - the interrelationships between mining and coinage policy in Saxony, p. 416-422 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-0348-7159-4_45 .
  • Bertram Schefold: The three pamphlets about the coin dispute between the Saxon Albertines and Ernestines . Verl. Wirtschaft und Finanz, Düsseldorf 2000, ISBN 3-87881-151-9 .
  • Harald Witthöft Siegen: The currency in the changing economic systems in the Franconian and German Empire between the 8th and 16th / 17th centuries. Century . In: Jürgen Schneider (Ed.): Public and private economics in changing economic systems: from April 7th to 9th, 1999 in Innsbruck . Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07868-1 , pp. 26-28 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 480 years ago "Saxon coin dispute". In: sachsenblick.de. Sachsenblick, accessed on August 17, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b c Bertram Schefold: How we got rich Always trouble with the single currency . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . August 13, 2011, ISSN  0174-4909 ( page 1 and page 2 ).
  3. ↑ K. F Jötze, Walther Lotz: The three pamphlets on the coin dispute between the Saxon Albertines and Ernestines around 1530 (=  collection of older and more recent political publications from home and abroad ). Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig January 1, 1893, OCLC 778050859 ( online ).