Fester
Schwaren (also Sware , Swarer Penning , gravis denarius or Dickpfennig ) was the name of a double-sided pfennig type that was widespread in northwest Germany ( Erzstift Bremen and Westphalia ) . Sware, the Low German name, was coined in the 14th and 15th centuries, especially in Westphalia. Its contemporary designation sware penninge was intended to distinguish it from the hollow penny minted on one side , called hole penninghe or levis denarius . The hollow pennies had a value ratio of three to one to the early swaren.
In Bremen and Oldenburg the nominal existed until 1871.
History and dissemination
The swaren were initially minted in large quantities by the bishops of Munster. One of these minters, Florence von Wewelinghofen (1364–1379), even gave a coin its name. His goods were called "Wewelinghöfer". The Münster sware was embossed on one side with the bust of the bishop, on the other side with the head of St. Paul.
The great importance of Munster's swaren in circulation in Westphalia and the neighboring countries was an occasion to re-coin them. While the images of the Munsteraner swaren are retained, copies of the city of Bremen (from 1369), those from the Counties of Hoya , Diepholz and Oldenburg as well as the provosts of Wildeshausen and the Burgmannen of Vechta are known. They differ from the Münster models in that they have changed the inscriptions and small additional characters. But it was mainly because of their weight that the Bremen swarms differed from their Münster models: around 1400, five instead of four Bremen sware had to be given for one Groten . The unmistakable characteristic of the Swaren is that they were stamped by 19–20 mm wide dies on planes with a diameter of 13 to 16 mm. The resulting incomplete transcriptions make it difficult to determine the origin of many medieval items. At the end of the Middle Ages , the minting of the Sware in Münster was stopped.
The name was retained until modern times for a denomination of the Bremen and Oldenburg coin systems. They remained the most common money in Bremen until the 15th century. The Schwaren by lower nascent weight and decreasing silver content increasingly devalued , were finally 1719-1866 (Bremen) only pronounced even in copper. A Bremen or Oldenburger Groten was valid for five flocks until 1871.
literature
- Michael Stadler, The Bremen Swaren Penninge in the 14th and 15th Centuries , in: Bremer Numismatic Society (Ed.): Bremen Contributions to the History of Coin and Money , Vol. 1, Bremen 1997, p. 55
- Hermann Jungk: The Bremen coins - coins and medals of the Archdiocese and the city of Bremen . Bremen 1875. (digitized version)