Eternal Penny (Ewiger Pfennig)

In the late middle ages and the early modern times especially commercial towns were interested in a hold steady currency. Currencies were often depreciated by producing cheaper coins or Münzverrufung. Münzverrufung means that people in the middle ages had to exchange the rotary coins by legal constraint. German sovereigns often used the Münzverrufung to earn more money or to get their war chest filled especially in the late middle ages. There were Münzverrufungen up to four times a year. That means that new coins were minted with a new picture on it. For example a four penny coin became a three penny coin after such a mintage. The commercial towns suffered from heavy losses because of the Münzverrufungen. That’s the reason why they tried to pressurize the Münzherren so that they go without Münzverrufungen. In the late 12th century Lübeck and Hamburg and during the 13th century Goslar, Regensburg, Hannover, Augsburg and Konstanz gained the formal control over the mints of the Münzherren. If the sovereigns ran out of money the commercial towns had the chance to rent or buy the right to mint their own coins. Hamburg rented the right to mint coins from the duke of Holstein and finally received it in the year 1325. So did Stade in 1272, followed by the cities of Lüneburg, Stalsund, Rostock, Hannover, Brandenburg and Braunschweig. The right to mint coins gave these cities the chance to create a stabile currency, the so called Eternal Penny (denarius perpetuus). This was the only chance to avoid losses. But the right to mint coins like the Eternal Penny was very expensive. Some cities like Cologne, for example, were lucky to stabilize their currency made of silver coins for many years or even decades. On a fairly long term bases the Eternal Penny was not able to avoid currency devaluation because each city had its own rules. In addition to that the Münzverrufung was still common. As long as the sovereigns minted their own coins they were not interested in an Eternal Penny at all. So they practiced the Münzverrufung up to the modern times. The introduction of the Eternal Penny by bishop Otto von Lonsdorf in 1260 could be seen as a sign of an extraordinary vision.