Bremen 36 grote

[bart]

Last weekend I came across this interesting piece: 36 grote from the Free Hanseatic City Bremen KM#233. It wasn't too expensive, so I couldn't resist to buy it. It's from 1841, which is the key date of this series with a mintage of 44,000.
On this coin you can see it actually circulated, despite the low mintage. It wasn't just a commemorative coin to be kept in some collection (now it is  ).

Bart

[Figleaf]

I'd have bought that beauty too, Bart. What a nice find! I like the arms with the key. As was the case in Leiden, a city with a coat of arms of crossed keys, the key(s) are the attributes of Saint Peter. I addition, I just learned fron Chrisild that Bremen is still a Land of the Federal Republic (Sorry Christian, I prefer this one over any 2 euro piece Hope you're not offended.)

I looked up the denomination Grote. It was created in the early middle ages, as silver coins grew in size and the double was supplemented by the gros.  Around 1550, a Reichsthaler was worth 59 Grote but by 1619, it had come to be worth 78 Grote. After the Kipper-und-Wipperzeit it settled at a value of 72 Grote. While the Rechnungsthaler (unit of account) remained at 72, the Speciesthaler (silver coin) rose to 96 Grote, so that a Speciesthaler was worth 1.5 Rechnungsthaler.

Values were fixed by the Bremer Goldw?hrung of 1750, so that it is clear that your coin circulated not only for 1/2 Rechnungsthaler, but also for 3/8 Speciesthaler and 3/4 Leipziger Gulden. The Bremer currency was based on the Thaler gold of 1/5 Pistole, so that your coin could also circulate for 1/10 gold pistole. As you can see from these numbers, the Bremer currency was on its way to be integrated into a northern German currency (by 1750, it became a member of the Norddeutsche Bund) based on the Speciesthaler, but Bremen had the special advantage of already being on the gold standard when the rest of Germany was mainly on the silver standard, while the mines of the Harzgebirge were producing less and less silver and the gold rushes were increasing gold production.

Peter

[bart]

Thanks Peter, for the always interesting background you give. You're making this piece coming alive...

Bart

[chrisild]

(Sorry Christian, I prefer this one over any 2 euro piece Hope you're not offended.)

Not at all. Back then, that was what many coins looked like - face value in the middle, surrounded by a wreath of leaves. And Swiss coins still have a very similar design these days.

The Grote are etymologically related to the Groschen, by the way - both are based on the Gros Tournois. 1 Groten was 5 Schwaren from 13-something until 1872 ...

Christian

[Prosit]

An excellent coin!  Did they still make this one in 1855?

Dale

[chrisild]

Don't have a catalog that covers those, but my coincyclopedia says the 36 Groten coin was last made in 1864 ...

Christian

[bart]

An excellent coin!  Did they still make this one in 1855?

Dale

The years this type has been issued are: 1840, 1841, 1845, 1846 and 1859. In 1859 a new type of 36 grote was introduced, but it was only issued in 1859 (mintage 50,000) and 1864 (100,000).
After 1864 (and before 1840) no coins with the denomination of 36 grote were issued.

Bart

[Figleaf]

Skipping both '44 and '55 should have been forbidden a long time ago 

Peter