The Dresden Coinage Convention of 1838 was a multilateral

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

that attempted to bring some degree of standardisation to the currencies used in the ''

Zollverein The (), or German Customs Union, was a coalition of States of the German Confederation, German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1 ...

''. The convention was agreed to at the General Mint Convention of the States of the

German Customs Union The (), or German Customs Union, was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1834. However, its foundations had b ...

or ''Zollverein'', held at

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. The conference had been prompted in part by the

Munich Coin Treaty The Munich Coinage Treaty () of 1837 was a treaty between six southern German states who agreed to form the South German Coinage Union (''Süddeutsche Münzverein'') and to unify their currency, currencies together with some of the central German ...

of 1837, by which the south German states adopted a unified currency. The Dresden Treaty was concluded on 30 July 1838 and was ratified by the States of the Zollverein at a follow-up meeting on 7 January 1839. The contracting parties to the convention agreed to use either the

Prussian thaler The Prussian Thaler (sometimes Prussian Reichsthaler) was the currency of Prussia until 1857. In 1750, Johann Philipp Graumann implemented the ''Graumannscher Fuß'' with 14 thalers issued to a Cologne Mark of fine silver, or 16.704 g per thaler ...

or the gulden; the treaty established permanently fixed exchange rates between the two currencies. The thaler was agreed to be equal to 1.75 gulden and thus the gulden was agreed to be equal to 4/7 thaler. The parties to the treaty were the states that at the time were members of the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Homburg,

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

, Nassau,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, Reuss-Gera, Reuss-Greiz,

Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometers and a population of 207,000 (190 ...

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ( ), was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to ...

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen ( ; ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, located in the southwest of the present-day Germany, German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ern ...

, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach,

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county (earldom) until 1697. In that year, it became a principal ...

, and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. Further standardisation came in 1857, when the

states and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

agreed to the Vienna Monetary Treaty. By 1857, the Dresden Convention had also been accepted by Brunswick,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, and Oldenburg.

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

did not accept the Dresden Convention, even though it joined the

in 1842.

References

*Forrest Capie, "Monetary Unions in Historical Perspective: What Future for the Euro in the International Monetary System", ''Open Economies Review'' 9:447-466 (1998). *William Arthur Shaw, ''A History of Currency, 1252 to 1896'' (New York : Augustus M. Kelley, 1967) {{Authority control 1838 treaties Currency treaties Treaties of the Grand Duchy of Baden Treaties of the Kingdom of Bavaria Treaties of the Free City of Frankfurt Treaties of the Grand Duchy of Hesse Treaties of the Electorate of Hesse Treaties of the Duchy of Nassau Treaties of the Kingdom of Prussia Treaties of the Principality of Reuss-Gera Treaties of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz Treaties of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Treaties of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Treaties of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen Treaties of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Treaties of the Kingdom of Saxony Treaties of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Treaties of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Treaties of the Kingdom of Württemberg Treaties of the Duchy of Brunswick Treaties of the Kingdom of Hanover Treaties of the Duchy of Oldenburg 1838 in the German Confederation Treaties of Hesse-Homburg