The ''Reichsthaler'' (; modern spelling Reichstaler), or more specifically the ''Reichsthaler specie'', was a standard

thaler A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

silver coin introduced by the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for the next 300 years, and containing 25–26 grams fine silver.MAIN reference p 360-393: German monetary system https://books.google.com/books?id=GrJCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA360#v=onepage&q&f=false '' Reichsthaler'' was also the name of a currency unit worth less than the ''Reichsthaler specie'' introduced by several North German states from the 17th century; discussed separately under '' North German thaler''. Several old books confusingly use the same term ''Reichsthaler'' for the specie silver coin as well as the currency unit. This is disambiguated by referring to the full-valued coin as the '' Reichsthaler specie'' and the lower-valued currency unit as the ''Reichsthaler currency (courant, kurant)''.

History

The ''Reichsthaler'' - literally, the ''dollar of the realm'' – was the most successful standard silver coin resulting from the 1524-1559 '' Reichsmünzordnungen'' or 'imperial minting ordinances' defining a uniform currency standard for the states of the

. Below is a history (in terms of grams of silver) of the ''Reichsthaler specie'' and its predecessor, the '' Guldengroschen''; as well as the ''Gulden'' currency unit used before 1618. The history of the lower-valued ''thaler'' currency unit is continued under North German thaler.

Prior to the ''Guldengroschen''

Since the

was a loose federation of hundreds of feudal and princely rulers, Germany had a collection of currency systems loosely related to the Frankish

Carolingian monetary system The Carolingian monetary system, also called the Carolingian coinage systemGroschen''), and a shilling equal to 12 pennies (''

Pfennig The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, ...

''). Many feudal rulers claimed the right to issue their own currency in their own domains, and often debased them in moments of stringency. Developments in the

French livre The livre (abbreviation: £ or ₶., French for (pound)) was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of coins a ...

currency system influenced the evolution of the German currencies. The

French denier The denier ( la, denarius; . d.) or penny was a medieval coin which takes its name from the Frankish coin first issued in the late seventh century; in English it is sometimes referred to as a silver penny. Its appearance represents the end ...

led to the

pfennig The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, ...

in the 9th century. France's 1-shilling

gros tournois The tornesel, tornesol, or was a silver coin of Europe in the Late Middle Ages and the early modern era. It took its name from the ', the of Tours. Marco Polo referred to the tornesel in recounts of his travels to East Asia when describing the ...

then became the groschen in the 13th century. Finally, the ounce-sized

Dutch guilder The guilder ( nl, gulden, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name ''gulden'' was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and reflects the fact that, ...

of the 15th century helped define Germany's ounce-sized Guldengroschen and its subdivisions.

The ''Guldengroschen'', 1486–1524

The '' Guldengroschen'' was a large silver coin of approximately 30 grams minted from the mine output of nations located southeast of modern-day

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. The coin's name denotes its approximate equivalence to the

and French livre parisis of the 15th century, then worth around 1 ounce of silver or 2.6 grams gold. Though initially of varying weights and even facing competition from the ''

Joachimsthaler A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter of ...

'', it was a coin that succeeded in the era of abundant precious metals in the 16th century, and was a natural choice of unit for a unified German currency.

''Reichsmünzordnung'', 1524–1566

The '' Reichsmünzordnung'' were a series of minting ordinances of the

defining the monetary system that would unify the numerous disparate currencies of its member states. The ordinance of 1524 defined two coins of equal value to the Reichsgulden currency. * The silver guldengroschen, 8 minted from an eight-ounce Cologne Mark (233.856 g) of silver (hence, 1 ounce or 29.232 g per coin) of fineness 15/16 – hence 27.405 g fine silver * The gold gulden or

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purc ...

, which in its final form had a tale of 72 to a Cologne Mark, 18 karats fine - hence 2.5036 g fine gold. * Both coins were equal to the Reichsgulden, divided into 60 kreuzer, 21 groschen or 21x12=252 pfennig. This remained an ideal or unimplemented system until the following changes were made in 1555: * The silver guldengroschen & the gold gulden were raised in value to 1.2 Gulden, 24 groschen, 72 kreuzer or 24x12 = 288 pfennig. * The Gulden therefore became an (uncoined) accounting or currency unit worth 60 kreuzer or 60x4 = 240 pfennig * and containing 27.405/1.2 = 22.84 g fine silver or 2.5032/1.2 = 2.086 g fine gold.

''Reichsthaler'' introduction, 1566

The ''Reichsthaler'' turned out to be the most successful coin resulting from the 16th century ''Reichsmünzordnungs''. It was borne out of an ordinance in 1559 discontinuing the 72-kreuzer ''guldengroschen'' and proposing in its place a smaller 60-kreuzer ''gulden'' coin. Popular demand for a replacement to the ounce-sized coin resulted in the ''Reichsthaler'', 1 ounce silver of 8/9 fineness (hence, 9 to a Cologne Mark or 25.984 g fine), and fixed at 68 ''kreuzer''.MAIN p 367: The Reichstag at Augsburg authorised the thaler, 8 to the mark, 14 loth 4 grs. fine = (14+4/18)/16 = 8/9, Mark fine = 9 thaler. p 368, in 1568: Mark fine = 10 florin 43.16 ''kreuzer'' = 10.72 fl, hence ''thaler'' ~ 1.19 fl or 72 ''kreuzer'' The new coin was popularly accepted but at a higher value of 72 kreuzer or 1.2 Gulden. It consequently doomed the (now-overvalued) gulden coin. ''Reichsthalers'' prevailed as circulating coin, and the gulden again became an uncoined currency unit equivalent to 25.984/1.2 = 21.653 g fine silver. This ''Reichsthaler specie'' or coin would continue to be divided into 24 groschen but would rise in value vs currency at 1.5 ''Gulden'' or 90 ''kreuzer'' by 1615.MAIN p 103: thaler = 1 florin 30 kreuzer = 1.5G in 1618 & after Kipper und Wipper 1623 The Dutch adopted it as the ''Rijksdaalder'' with 25.40 g fine silver and valued at 2.5

s as of 1618.

''Kipper und Wipper Crisis'', 1618

The

Thirty Years’ War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

1618-48 and the ''

Kipper und Wipper ''Kipper und Wipper'' (german: Kipper- und Wipperzeit, literally "Tipper and See-saw time") was a financial crisis during the start of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).gutegroschen The ''Guter Groschen'' ("good ''groschen''"), also ''Gutergroschen'' or ''Gutegroschen'', abbreviation ''Ggr.'', is name of the ''groschen'' coin that was valued at of a ''Reichsthaler'' from the end of the 16th century. It was called a "goo ...

'' or 1 ''gulden'', but little is on record with regard to the mint systems until after 1667. They were thus on a ''de facto thaler currency'' unit with some uncertainty in its value versus the ''Reichsthaler specie''. A currency trial done in 1665 indicated a lower prevailing (and unofficial) rate of 14 ''gulden'' or 9 ''thaler'' to a Cologne Mark.

The '' North German thaler'' currency unit after 1667

The ''Zinnaische'' currency standard of 1667 was the first to define the '' North German thaler, de jure'', as a currency unit worth less than the ''Reichsthaler specie''. The succeeding Leipzig standard of 1690 then became the prevailing ''thaler'' and ''gulden'' currencies throughout the

. A summary of the ''

'' standards, in brief:MAIN p 386: #2 Zinnaische 1667, #3 Leipzig 1690, Gold std 1741 p388, #5 Convention 1753, #4 Prussian 1840, p382 1857 Vereinsthaler 500g/30=16.7g * The 1667 ''Zinnaische thaler'' was issued at 10 to a Cologne Mark of fine silver. * The widely-adopted ''Leipzig thaler'' of 1690 was issued at th a ''Reichsthaler specie'', or 12 to a Mark, or 19.488 fine silver. * From 1730s the German states unofficially slipped to a gold standard after the gold-silver ratio dropped to 14.5, as states rushed to reissue their currencies in cheaper gold. From 1741 the Friedrich d'or ''

pistole Pistole is the French name given to a Spanish gold coin in use from 1537; it was a doubloon or double escudo, the gold unit. The name was also given to the Louis d'Or of Louis XIII of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value ...

'' of approx. 6.0 g fine gold was valued at 5 ''thalers'', making each thaler worth about 1.2 g gold or 1.2 x14.5 = 17.4 g silver. * From 1754 many North German states implemented the Austrian Conventions standard with the thaler issued at a Conventionsthaler, or 13 to a Mark, or 17.5392 g fine silver. * From 1840 many North German states adopted the Prussian thaler standard of 14 to a Mark, or 16.704 g fine silver. This standard was slightly modified in 1857 as the '' Vereinsthaler'' of 16 g fine silver. All North German thalers and '' Vereinsthalers'' were retired after 1873 in favor of the

German gold mark The German mark (german: Goldmark ; sign: ℳ) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the ...

, with each mark containing gram of fine gold, at the rate of 1 thaler = 3 marks, or a gold ratio of 15.5.

The ''Reichsthaler'' in other currency systems

The ''Reichsthaler specie'' was widely issued in Germany for 200 years but was discontinued in many states after 1754 in favor of the lighter '' Conventionsthaler'' of th a Cologne Mark or 23.3856 g fine silver. However it survived both as coin and

bank money Demand deposits or checkbook money are funds held in demand accounts in commercial banks. These account balances are usually considered money and form the greater part of the narrowly defined money supply of a country. Simply put, these are depo ...

in several Northern European states until they adopted the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from th ...

in 1875. In 1583 the ''

Dutch rijksdaalder The ''rijksdaalder'' ( Dutch, "Imperial dollar") was a Dutch coin first issued by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the late 16th century during the Dutch Revolt which featured an armored half bust of William the Silent. It was t ...

'' coin of 25.40 g fine silver was the counterpart of the reichsthaler in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

. From 1608 to 1659 it then functioned as

of the Bank of Amsterdam (''Amsterdam Wisselbank''), worth 2.5 gulden banco and representing 25.40 g fine silver actually received. From 1659 to 1800 the bank money was redefined as the ''Silver Dukat'' of 24.36 g fine silver worth 2.4 gulden banco, which was also subsequently named (confusingly) as the ''rijksdaalder''. In 1618 the full-weight Reichsthaler Specie coin of 25.984 g fine silver was the bank money of the ''Hamburger Bank'' worth 3 Hamburg mark banco. Its weight was redefined after 1770 at 9 to a Cologne Mark of fine silver, or 25.28 g, and it was continued to be used until German reunification in 1871. The ''Rigsdaler'' served as the currency in Denmark and Norway until 1875, with the higher-valued ''Rigsdaler Specie'' (25.28 g fine silver) also coexisting with lower-valued ''Rigsdaler currency'' or ''courant''; see Danish rigsdaler & Norwegian rigsdaler. In Sweden, the ''Riksdaler Specie'' of 25.50 g fine silver also coexisted with other ''riksdaler'' in copper or lower-valued currency; see Swedish riksdaler.

References

{{Reflist Currencies of Germany Modern obsolete currencies Early Modern currencies 1566 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Coins of the Holy Roman Empire Thaler