South German gulden

The South German Gulden was the currency of the states of southern Germany between 1754 and 1873. These states included Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Frankfurt and Hohenzollern. It was divided into 60 kreuzer, with each kreuzer worth 4 pfennig or 8 heller.

History

This specific ''Gulden'' was based on the '' Gulden'' or ''florin'' used in the Holy Roman Empire during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period. The ''Gulden'' first emerged as a common currency of the Holy Roman Empire after the 1524 '' Reichsmünzordnung'' in the form of the ''Guldengroschen''.Shaw (1896), p. 364: Imperial Mint Ordinance of 1524 defines a silver piece = 1 Rhenish gold gulden. On p 363: the silver equivalent of the guld gulden... received the name gulden groschen. In the succeeding centuries the ''Gulden'' was then defined as a fraction of the ''Reichsthaler'' specie or silver coin.

As of 1690 the ''Gulden'' used in Southern Germany and the Austrian Empire adhered to the Leipzig standard, with the ''Gulden'' worth a Cologne Mark of fine silver or the ''Reichsthaler'' specie coin, or 12.992 g per ''Gulden''. Below is a history (in terms of grams of silver) of the standards of the South German Gulden from 1690 until the gold standard was introduced in 1873.Shaw (1896), pp. 360-393Shaw (1896), p. 386. Standards: #3 Leipzig 1690, #5 Convention 1753, #7 Kronenthaler 1820, #7 Prussian 1837, p372 carolus or 3 gulden 1741, p382 Vereinsthaler 1857. A comparison with the higher-valued Austro-Hungarian florin is also included. The course of value of the ''Gulden'' before 1618 is found under ''Reichsthaler''.

The ''Gulden'' departed from this standard in the 1730s when the gold-silver price ratio dropped from 15 to 14.5, prompting many states to reissue their ''Gulden'' in cheaper gold. The South German ''Gulden'' then departed from the Austro-Hungarian florin after it valued the Carolin d'or of 7.51 g fine gold at 11 Gulden in Southern Germany versus 9 Gulden in Austria. Each South German gulden was therefore worth 7.51/11 = 0.6827 g fine gold or 0.6827x14.5 = 9.9 g fine silver.

The South German states therefore could not comply with the Austrian currency convention of 1754 which set the Austro-Hungarian florin at a Conventionsthaler, or 11.6928 g fine silver. They instead adopted a lower-valued ''South German Gulden'' worth th a Cologne Mark of fine silver, or th a ''Conventionsthaler'', or 9.744 g silver per gulden. Currency was issued only up to 3 & 6 kreutzer Landmünze (or local coins, of 0.05 & 0.1 ''Gulden''), with larger Austrian coins accepted at a 20% higher value in Southern Germany.

This ''Conventionsthaler'', containing 23.3856 g fine silver and valued at 2.4 ''Gulden'' (or 9.744 g per ''Gulden''), was superseded between 1807 and 1837 by the minting of '' Kronenthaler'' coins containing 25.71 g fine silver but valued at 2.7 gulden (or only 9.524 g per ''Gulden''), in a competitive currency depreciation between the various South German states. The French écu of 26.67 g fine silver was also accepted at 2.8 gulden.

The situation above was only resolved by the Munich Coin Treaty of 1837 which redefined the Gulden at Cologne mark or 9.545 g of silver. This allowed for an exchange rate of Gulden to 1 Prussian Thaler. In addition to the 3 & 6 kreutzer and smaller pieces, new coins were introduced in denominations of , 1 and 2 Gulden, as well as the Vereinsmünze (Union Coin) worth 3 South German gulden or 2 Prussian thalers.

In 1857 the Vienna Monetary Treaty introduced a second Vereinsmünze in the form of the Vereinsthaler, with fractionally less silver than the Prussian Thaler, but still valued at 1 Gulden. While the 3 South German gulden coin was redenominated as 2 Vereinsthaler, no changes were made to the other denominations.

Following the Unification of Germany in 1871, the newly formed German Empire adopted the Goldmark in 1873 as it began to standardise to a single currency within its borders, and chose to decimalise. One Mark, (written as ''1 ℳ'' ), was subdivided into one-hundred Pfennig (written as ''100 ₰'' ), with the mark having an exchange equal to 35 kreutzer, or gulden, as the South German Gulden began to be withdrawn over the next three years.

From 1 January 1876 the Gulden and the Kreuzer, along with all other forms of currency which existed previously in what was now the German Empire, were abolished.

(The decimal Goldmark became the only legal tender, until 4 August 1914 when the link between the Mark and gold was abandoned with the outbreak of World War I, and replaced by the Papiermark).

References

Sources

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* Shaw, William Arthur (1896), "The Monetary System of Germany" in ''The History of Currency, 1252–1894'' by Shaw. London: Clement Wilson; NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 360-393.

{{Portal bar, Money, Numismatics

Currencies of Germany
Gulden
1754 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1873 disestablishments in Germany
Modern obsolete currencies