As a coin collector living in the United States, I have begun collecting
coins of the areas (and eras) where and when my ancestors lived. I try to
locate coins that would circulate where my ancestors lived with the thought
that it was these types of coins that passed through my ancestors hands. My
primary interest is the Minden area of Westphalia and I am interested in
learning what types of coins were in popular use before 1850, especially in
the 1700's and earlier.
I have learned that Westphalia only minted coins for the years 1808 - 1813
when Jerome (Hieronymus) Napoleon was the ruler of the area. After this it
appears that the area would fall under Prussia for coin minting, although a
number of nearby areas had their own coins. The Westphalia coins I have
obtained have very little wear, indicating that these specimens at least,
did not circulate very much. Nearby areas that were making coins in the
1800's included: Hannover, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe-Detmold, plus Oldenburg
and Brunswick are not too far away.
Would coins from all these areas have circulated in the Minden area, or just
Prussian coins?
Before 1800, it is not clear to me what coins were available. Would
Prussian coins from the 1700's still be the main coin, or were these used
more to the east around Brandenburg?
A large number of states and city-states minted their own coins at various
times, even Minden itself - but only for short time periods. Osnabruck is
fairly close to Minden but was part of Hannover. I have located a Minden
Bishopric coin from the late 1500's and since my main coin interest had been
US coins, this instantly became my oldest holding. It is quite interesting
how thin these old coins were, especially the silver ones. They are much
thinner than an American dime. It would seem that these coins would rapidly
wear away to nothing if they indeed did circulate a lot.
Can anyone offer information on this matter? My own family lived in Hille
and farmed for centuries. Would almost all trade have been by barter
systems, or were there copper and silver coins jingling in peoples pockets
quite often? If farmers had a very good year, how would they have kept
their modest wealth?
The German-States coins I have seen for sale in America are in pretty good
shape. Either only the better specimens hit this market, or few coins did
circulate.
Perhaps many others are interested in this subject - so please answer to the
list.
Gary
duf@ntplx.net