Pfennig

For the surname, seePfennig (surname).

Thepfennig(German:[ˈpfɛnɪç];pl.'pfennigs' or 'pfennige'();symbolpf or ₰) orpennyis a formerGermancoin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of theeuroin 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, it lost its value through the years and was the minor coin of theMarkcurrencies in theGerman Reich,West GermanyandEast Germany,and thereunifiedGermanyuntil the introduction of the euro. Pfennig was also the name of the subunit of theDanzig mark(1922–1923) and theDanzig gulden(1923–1939) in theFree City of Danzig(modernGdańsk,Poland).

Prussia:1 pfenning 1852. Theobversereads: 360 [make up] onethaler.

German Empire:10 pfennig iron coin 1917

Overview

Name

The wordPfennig(replacing thedenariusordenariusas a low-denomination silver coin) can be traced back to the 8th century and also became known as thePenning,Panni(n)g,Pfenni(n)c,Pfendingand by other names, e.g. inPrussiauntil 1873,Pfenning.The-ing- or-incsuffix was used, in addition to-ung,the formation of affiliationsubstantivesand also appears in other coin denominations, for example in theschilling.Beyond that, its origin has not been clarified, but an early borrowing from the Latinpondus( "weight", cf.pound) is possible.According to an 1848 Leipzig trade lexicon the name pfennig was "originally the general name ofeverycoin in Germany, which is supposed to be derived from the hollow coins orbracteatess,because these had the shape of apan"(i.e. they were bent)."

The wordPfennigis etymologically related to the Englishpenny,theSwedish penning,which was also model for the Finnishpenni(1860–2001), the Estonianpenn(1918–1927), thePolish fenig(1917–1918), the Lithuanian word for moneypinigaiand thepfenig (fening)of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1998–today). The /pf/ rather than /p/ in both pronunciation and spelling is a result of theHigh German consonant shiftor second Germanic sound shift which affected the High German dialects of what is now southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria. High German (and to some extent Central German) dialects form the basis for modernStandard German.

Related currencies

The pfennig was the progenitor of a whole series of later coin denominations, which became parts or multiples of the later pfennig. These include thegroschen( "big [pfennig]", from the Latingrossus"big, thick" ),Angster( "narrow [pfennig]", from the Latinangustus"narrow, thin" ),Albus( "white [pfennig]", from the Latinalbus"white"; initially equivalent to aGroschen),Witte( "white [pfennig]" ),Rappen( "pfennig with a raven" ),Stäbler( "pfennig with the Basle staff" ),Heller( "Haller [pfennig]" ),Schwaren( "heavy [pfennig]" ) etc.

There were also "light pfennigs" (leichte Pfennige), "good pfennigs" (gute Pfennige) or "custom pfennigs" (Zollpfennige), which had this name on the coin. Some types of pfennig were given special names in the vernacular, such as the Erfurt "coffin pfennig" (Sargpfennig).

Sign

Kurrent⟨d⟩and⟨D⟩.

As a currency sign a variation of the minuscule letter 'd' for 'denarius' inGerman Kurrent scriptwas modified so the terminal end of the minuscule Kurrent 'd', that trailed at the top of theascenderin an anticlockwise loop, was instead brought down behind the right of the ascender, to form adescender,that hooked clockwise, thus making it a distinct symbol, different from any of the other Kurrent letters in its own right:₰.

The pfennig symbol has nearly fallen out of use since the 1950s, with the demise and eventual abolition of theReichsmarkwith itsReichspfennig,as well as theabolition of Kurrentby theNazison 3 January 1941, thus making it increasingly cryptic as familiarity with Kurrent script has decreased since that time. The symbol is encoded in Unicode atU+20B0₰GERMAN PENNY SIGN.

Unicode hasU+3338㌸SQUARE PENIHI,a square combination ofペニヒ(penihi), Japanese for "pfennig", forcompatibility with earlier Japanese character sets.

History

Middle Ages

Carolingiandenarius(denier)

Regensburg pfennig, 10th century

Charlemagne established, in the so-calledCarolingian coin standard,that from aCarolingianPfund( "pound" ) ofsilver,240 coins were to be minted (corresponding to about 1.7 g of silver per coin). The coin was called in the Latin language of the time, adenariusafter the old Roman coin (seeSachsenpfennig – Coin standard). From this coin evolved later the Frenchdenierand the Italiandenaro.The Arabic worddinar(دينار) can also be traced back to the Latin worddenarius.In the Old High German language, thedenariuswas already called the pfennig ( "phenninc" ) at the time of Charlemagne. In North German and Dutch-speaking countries it was later called aPenningand in England thepenny.The termpaenigfor the Romandenariusfirst appeared in England around 765, when KingOffahaddenariistruck out of silver based on the Carolingian model. This explains the abbreviation "d" as indenarius, which was used for the "old" penny in Great Britain until 1971. The early pfennigs weighed around 1.3g to 2g, its weight tending to steadily decrease over the centuries. The widespread fluctuations in the weight of the same pfennigs were partly due to the manufacturing process, with the heavier pfennig specimens being sought out by private individuals in accordance withGresham's law.At that time and even partly up to modern times, it was the total weight of a certain number of similar pfennigs that had to be right for larger payments, a practice that tended to promote deviating exchange rates between smaller and larger coin denominations and which found its climax in theKipper and Wipper era.For example, the terms aSchockpfennig(= 60 pf),Schockgroschenor "pound sterling" (= 240 d).

From the 8th to the 13th century, the pfennig (ordenarius) consisted of high-quality silver, and was the only denomination in circulation, other units being used purely as arithmetic unitsand it thus had a high purchasing power. As a result, this era is also called thePfennigzeit( "pfennig era" ) in numismatics. Only very rarely were half-pfennigs minted, which were also known asoboleorscherfs.

Rottweil pfennig, 1200–1220

Around 1200, the pfennig was the largest and only German silver denomination, apart from imported foreign gold and silver coins. Smaller denominations were created by cutting the coins in half or quarters, producing something calledhacksilver,which was very easy to do with the one-sided thin hollow pfennigs orstrubben,which were then referred to asbracteatesfrom the 17th century. The "change" that was often still required for price and quantity equalization by buyers and sellers on the city markets were small amounts of natural produce and goods that were included in the overall purchase process.

Around 1200, the differentmint lordsof theHoly Roman Empireminted theirregional pfennigsto very different standards in terms ofgrossandfine weights,because the German "kingdom" handed overminting rightsor did not enforce as a uniform imperial standard consistently. As a result, many regional pfennigs with different exchange rates arose over time. Somes coins had a black tint due to the large addition of copper, and so a distinction was made between white pfennigs (Wißpennig,Albus,Silberpfennig) and black pfennigs (Kupferpfennig= "copper pfennigs" ). A well-known example is theHaller Pfennig,which was later legally defined as ahellerorhallerin subsequent imperial coinage regulations as a separate denomination valued at two to a pfennig until the 19th century e.g. in Bavaria. Even the earlyhellers(Händleinheller') had a noticeable addition of copper, so that thehellervery quickly became the first German "pure" copper coin.

The pfennigs of the Schinderling period, the black pfennigs, were minted from 1457 mainly in southern Germany, especially in Austria and Bavaria, with almost no silver. The so-calledBöse Halser( "Evil Halser" ) of this time essentially consisted of a copper-tin alloy. The period of the so-calledSchinderlingsended with the phasing out of the 5-lot pfennigs in 1460. The black pfennigs undermined confidence in Austria's silver currency for a long time.

Schüsselpfennig,St. Gallen,clipped

Lilienpfennig,Strasbourg

PalatineWeckeler

For the successful introduction of the silvergroschencurrency, which replaced the regional pfennig, sufficient coins of lower denomination had to be available. The silver-rich Saxon dukes, for example, had hollow pfennigs and hollowhellersminted atGothaandLangensalzato prescribed coinage ordinances. However, the constant reduction in the silver content of the groschen meant that new ordinances to reduce the silver content of the pfennigs that the cities sometimes minted themselves.

TheSchüsselpfennig( "bowl pfennig" ) minted from 1374 to the 18th century is aconcavepfennig, stamped on one side only, that was minted from 1374 onwards, and was so called due to its minting technique. It was created by stamping using one upper die only onto a largerplanchet.As a result, the rim of the coin was pressed upwards into the shape of a bowl or plate.

The forerunners of theSchüsselpfennigswere the one-sided silverEngelpfennigsandLilienpfennigsof theFree Imperial CityStrasbourgand theTrierpfennigs, which were being minted as early as the beginning of the 14th century.They are so-calledEwiger Pfennige( "eternal pfennigs" ), since unlike mostbracteates,they didn't have to be exchanged regularly for a fee.

The so-called PalatineWeckelers,named after their depiction of a lozenged shield orheraldic lozenge(German:Wecke) were minted from about 1390. From the 15th century, a characteristic feature of the pfennig was its curved shape and a prominent circle of beads, which surrounded the coin image. The pearl circle does not occur in the laterSchüsselpfennigsminted from the 16th to the 18th century.

Pricing examples from the Saxon-Thuringian region

Krug gives the following examples of what could be bought for pfennigs in regions ofSaxonyandThuringia:

1324	a chicken: 2 pfennigs
	a lamb's belly: 8 pfennigs
pre-1382	a fattened pig: 360 pfennigs
	a young pig: 180 pfennigs
1382	aschock(60)of eggs: 10 pfennigs
	8ellsof linen cloth: 54 pfennigs
	a tub (Hafen) of butter: 40 pfennigs
	a pat of fresh butter: 3 pfennigs
1395	six chickens: 48 pfennigs

The pfennigs concerned were usually the coins from the Freiberg state mint.

Modern period

17th and 18th centuries

By the late 17th century, the pfennigs hadlostmost of their value. The last pfennig coins containing traces of silver are rarities minted in 1805. Effectively, by the end of the 17th century the pfennig had been reduced to a pure copper coin. In the 18th century, some German mints minted copper andbillonpfennigsat around the same time. From the middle of the 18th century, however, the proportion of billon coins compared to pure copper pfennig coins tended to decrease, which was also reflected in the 2 to 4 pfennig coins. The last silver-containing 1 pfennig coins with the designation "Pfenig"were minted in Germany in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1808 to 1811 and date stamped 1808 and are rare.Even the copper pfennigs were not all of the same value. Bremen therefore called its pfennigssware penninge( "heavy pfennigs" )for which the common nameSchwarenprevailed.

• 
  BremenSchwaren,1797, obverse
• 
  Schwaren,1797, reverse

Some renowned coins made of copper are the Häller or Haller pfennig ofSchwäbisch Hall,some centuries later calledHeller,and minted throughout the country, and theKreuzer(from "Kreuz", the cross minted on the coins), minted inAustria,Switzerland,and some regions ofUpper Germany.

19th and 20th centuries

Until 1821, various smaller coin systems were in use in the Prussian provinces. Only in the provinces of Brandenburg and Westphalia was the pfennig the smallest coin in terms of value. With the Prussian small coin reform of 1821, a uniform small coin system was introduced for all Prussian provinces. To distinguish it from the pfennigs before the reform, the new denomination was calledPfenning.One thaler was no longer 288 pfennigs, but 360Pfennings.This new ratio was also reflected on the side with the coat of arms:360 EINEN THALER.Other states, such asSaxe-Weimar-Eisenach,minted 1½ pfennig coins well into the 19th century.

In the southern German states (Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria including the Palatinate, Saxony and other smaller ones), the value of thePfenni(n)gwas fixed at 1/240 of aGuldenby the coinage act of 1506 and that remained in force until 1871. (1gulden= 60kreuzer,1kreuzer= 4Pfennings,1Pfenning= 2Hellers). The half-pfennig (heller) was the only coin of theguldenperiod that remained officially valid after the introduction of the imperial currency (because of the beer tax in Bavaria).

• 
  Brandenburg pfennig of 1811, reverse
• 
  Brandenburg pfennig of 1811, obverse
• 
  PrussianPfenningof 1821, reverse
• 
  PrussianPfenningof 1821, obverse
• 
  1½ pfennig of 1830, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, reverse
• 
  1½ pfennig of 1830, obverse

In some southern German states, the termhellerwas a synonym for the pfennig (e.g. in the city of Frankfurt and in the Duchy of Nassau). In Bavaria, the heller was half a penny.

A 1 pfennig coin under theGoldmark(German Empire)

TheMark gold currency,introduced by theGerman Coinage Actof 1871 was the currency of the newly foundedGerman Empire,was divided into = 100 pfennigs. This partition was retained through all German currencies (including theRentenpfennigand theReichspfennig) until 2001.

German Empire: 25 pfennig iron coin 1918. The word on the top means "wartime money".

The last West German one- and two-pfennig coins were steel with a copper coating. The five- and ten-pfennig coins were steel with a brass coating. The latter was called aGroschen,while the five-pfennig coin, half a groschen, was regionally (east of the riverElbe) also referred to as theSechser(English:sixpence), deriving from the former duodecimal division of the groschen. All four coins had their value imprinted on the obverse and an oak tree on the reverse.

The coins of theMark der DDRwere made of aluminium, except for the 20 pfennig coin, which was made of an aluminium copper alloy.

• 
  Free City of Danzig:10 pfennig 1932
• 
  Nazi Germany:10Reichspfennigcoin 1937.
• 
  West Germany:1 pfennig coin 1950
• 
  East Germany:1 pfennig coin 1979
• 
  10 pfennig coin used in Germany until 2001.

Pfennig since the euro

After the introduction of the euro, some, mainly older, Germans tend to use the term pfennig instead of cent for the copper-coloured coins (and the term Groschen for the 10-cents-coin).

Unicode

The pfennig ligature is defined and coded inUnicodeas follows:

InternationalCharacter encoding standardUnicode

Character	Unicode Position	Unicode Title	HTML hexadecimal	HTML decimal
₰	U+20B0	German penny sign	₰	₰

See also

General

• Bracteate
• Penny
• Denier,the French penny
• Coinage of Saxony

Types of pfennig

• Lilienpfennig
• Regional pfennig
• Roter Seufzer
• Sachsenpfennig
• Schüsselpfennig
• Weckelerpfennig