| Guldengroschen | |
|---|---|
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| O •SIGISMVNDVS: *: ARCHIDVX• AVSTRIE•, Sigismund standing in armor, wearing crown and holding orb; shield to left, crested helmet to right | R Armored knight on horseback right, carrying banner; arms of Austrian provinces around. |
| Sigismund, Archduke of Austria. 1427-1496. | |
TheGuldengroschen orGuldiner was a largesilvercoin originally minted inTirol in 1486, but which was introduced into theDuchy of Saxony in 1500.[1]
The name "Guldengroschen" came from the fact that it has an equivalent denomination value in silver relative to that of thegoldgulden (60kreuzer). In the latter years of the 1470s and early years of the 1480sSigismund of Austria issued decrees that reformed the poor state of his region's coinage by improving the silver fineness back to a level not seen in centuries (.937 pure) and created denominations larger than the ubiquitous, but fairly low valuedGroschen of 4 to 6Kreuzer that were in use.
In 1484, small numbers of "halfguldengroschens" valued at 30 kreuzer were issued. This was a revolutionary leap in denomination from the smaller pieces, and surpassed even the largetestones ofItaly which were the highest weight coins in use. Finally, in 1486 the full sizedguldengroschen of 60kreuzers was put into circulation and it was soon nicknamed "Guldiner". For a long time thereafter such coins were also called "unciales" because their actual silver weight was very nearly oneounce. As large quantities of silver became available other states began issuingguldiners of their own. Bern, in modern-day Switzerland was one of the earliest to follow theCounty of Tyrol by issuing itsguldiners in 1493. In 1500, Saxony's mint at Annaberg took minting ofguldiners to new heights and the economies of central Europe welcomed these large new coins.
The original Tyroleanguldiner was designed so that eight coins minted would weigh in pure silver at one TyroleanMark. This was fine for the Tyrol, but much of Europe was accustomed to measuring by the more widely usedCologne mark. The penultimate development of theguldiner occurred in 1518 when theJoachimsthal mint inJagiellon-controlledBohemia slightly altered the weight of the coin from 31.93 g down to 29.23 g.[2] This made it possible to mint nineguldiners to have the silver weight equivalent of one Cologne Mark, rather than the eight in Tirol. This new coin was known as the Joachimsthaler (Joachimsthalguldiner),[2] but like the guldengroschen being contracted to guldiner, theJoachimsthaler became known simply as thethaler.[3] This new coin was an instant success and was the great grandfather of many other similar weight coins like thedaalder,dollar,tolar,tallero, etc.
The 1524Reichsmünzordnung defined a standardGuldengroschen for theHoly Roman Empire, at1⁄8thCologne Mark of silver, 15/16 fine - hence, 27.405 g fine silver.[4] It was valued at 60kreuzer in 1524 and 72kreuzer after 1555. This imperialGuldengroschen ended in 1566 with the issuance of theReichsthaler, which contained less silver (25.984 g), but was also valued at 72kreuzer.
Guldengroschen itself, has been the main motive for many collectors coins and medals. One of the most recent is the Austrian700 Years City of Hall in Tyrol commemorative coin, minted on January 29, 2003. The reverse side of the coin shows the Guldiner silver coin. However, the design is negative, representing acoin die, as a reference to Hall’s history as a significant centre for minting coins.
Media related toGuldengroschen at Wikimedia Commons
