Why are there so many years without any minting of small denominations in Germany?

Greig

I do not know how and why I never noticed this before, but if you look at Krause's German Coins catalogue (1501 to present) for German Empire klein muenzen (1 pfennig through 1 mark), there are a large number of years when virtually no coins - of most denominations, anyway - were minted. 1 pfennigs were made up to 1877, then none until 1885. 2 pfennigs were struck up to 1877, then none until 1904!! The 5 pfennig coins ceased in 1876 and started up again in 1888, while the 10 pfennig ceased entirely during 1877 through 1887. There was an eleven year gap for the 20 pfennig and an 18 year hiatus for the 50 pfennig. The only coin to be consistently made was the 1 mark, but even here there were years when few or none were made (1877 - ca. 740K, 1879 - 156K, 1884 - none, 1888-1890 - none, and 1894 - 184K).

Was there something going on with the German economy that resulted in the nation not needing small coins (e.g., the previous mintages were sufficient for their needs, or some sort of economic slowdown, or both...)?

What were the mints doing during these periods? Were the employees laid off?

Anybody have any knowledge here?

Thanks!

Sapyx

In 1871, Germany formed as a union of dozens of smaller countries. This was, in effect, a currency reform not unlike the introduction of the euro: all the old pre-union coinages of the German states were withdrawn, and the new ones issued. Many of the old coins were withdrawn and melted down to provide raw materials for the new ones. The new nation needed a large amount of coinage at the beginning, to handle the transition. But once the transition was made, they didn't have the need for additional coins - the vast stockpile made from 1871 to 1878 was plenty.



Coinage reforms do sometimes have this effect, even in more modern times. Look at the mintages for British coins in the 1970s - many of those were not made for a long time, and 1970s Britain was a larger economy than 1900s Germany, even with the economic downturn. But the huge stash of coins made in preparation for the transition to decimal currency in 1970 enough to tide them over.



As for what the mints in Germany did during the lull: there were still coinage issues to be made for the various member-states of the Empire. Germany also had colonies at the time, some of which needed coinage. And the Berlin mint, in particular, marketed itself worldwide as a coinage-producer-for-hire, making coins for several South American, African and Asian countries.



Apart from the Berlin mint, the other German mints were relatively small facilities, owned by the state governments they were situated in rather than being under direct Imperial control. So each mint would have had a different policy and means of coping with any downturn. Some coped, some didn't. The mint in Darmstadt, owned by the relatively small state of Hesse-Darmstadt, couldn't compete and was shut down in 1882. Prussia owned three mints prior to unification, having inherited the mints in Hannover and Frankfurt by conquering those neighbouring states in 1866; Prussia shut these down once they were no longer needed. Meanwhile, the mint in Dresden, owned by the Kingdom of Saxony, was too small so they shut it down in 1887 and moved it to a new larger facility in nearby Muldenhutten.

Greig

Thanks for the very useful response. I hadn't thought of the comparison to the UK after decimalization, but it makes perfect sense.

Do you know of any source - book or article - with the history of the German mints at the end of the 19th century that would shed more light on the subject?

Thanks again for the very speedy reply!