Saxony (1401-06) groschen
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This specimen was lot 4371 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €200 (about US$275 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN, MEISSEN, MARKGRAFSCHAFT Balthasar, 1369-1382-1406. Meißner Groschen o. J. (1401-1406), Freiberg. Selten in dieser Erhaltung. Henkelspur, vorzüglich +. (margraviate of Meissen, Balthasar, 1382-1406, undated Meissener groschen, circa 1401-06, Freiburg mint. Rare in this quality, mount mark, extremely fine or better.)"
Wikipedia comments,
"The Meissen groschen (Meißner Groschen) or broad groschen (Breite Groschen) was a Meissen-Saxon silver coin of the 14th and 15th centuries and the regional currency of the Margraviate of Meissen in the Late Middle Ages. It was introduced by Margrave Frederick II of Meissen in 1338/39 and modelled on the Prague groschen.
The Margraves of Meissen had large silver deposits in the Ore Mountains. In the first hundred years, they had the Meissen groschen struck exclusively in Freiberg. The Freiberg Mint coined a total of 301,298 Mark (about 70.5 tons) of fine silver. Since a lot of silver could be minted, the Meissen groschen was not only used in the Margraviate of Meissen, but also spread beyond the borders of the actual area where it was legal tender. Like the Prague groschen, it was often imitated and countermarked.
The Meissen groschen was minted in the Freiberg and Zwickau mints. Until 1405, the obverse always depicted the Meissen lion rampant looking left with a simple tail and the Latin inscription: GROSSUS MARCHIONNIS MISNENISIS ("Groschen of the March of Meissen"). On the reverse were a cross fleury, a quatrefoil and the abbreviated title of the mint lords in Latin: DEI GRATIA THURINGIAE LANDGRAVI (By the Grace of God Landgrave of Thuringia). Beginning in 1457, the year dates were often included in an [abbrevia]ted manner (in the series 1465–1469 and 1490–1499).
Thousands of types of Meissen groschen were minted. The variants include:
- Fürstengroschen ("prince's groschen")
- Helmgroschen ("helmet groschen")
- Horngroschen ("horn groschen")
- Judenkopfgroschen ("Jew's head groschen")
- Kreuzgroschen ("cross groschen")
- Löwengroschen ("lion groschen")
- Schildgroschen ("shield groschen")
- Schwertgroschen ("sword groschen")
The monetary value of the Meissen-Saxon silver pfennig decreased over time. In 1338, a fine Prague coin mark (approx. 253.14 g) became 14 2/9 lots of silver (= 888/1000 fine) 66 2/3 groschen with a gross weight of 3.797 g and a fine weight of 3.375 g. By 1360, the fineness was reduced so much that from the same amount of silver, 70 groschen - now with a fine weight of 2.788 g – could be minted. Then, in 1432, 525 groschen were minted from a fine Prague mint mark; now the individual coins only had a fine weight of 0.48 g silver."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 2.56-2.80 g, silver, 28-29 mm diameter, this specimen 2,64 g.
Catalog reference: Krug 540 ff.; Mehner 3/87.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Grierson, Philip, Coins of Medieval Europe, London: B. A. Seaby Ltd., 1991.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 441: Orders and Decorations from the Estate of Wilhelm, Duke of Bavaria (1752–1837), among others | Coins and Medals from the Middle Ages and Modern times, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Norway, and Saxony, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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