Groschen

Groschen (from Latin: grossus "thick", via Old Czech groš) was the (sometimes colloquial) name for a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire.

Name

The name is introduced in 13th-century France as [denarius] grossus "thick penny", whence Old French gros, Italian: grosso, Middle High German gros(se), Low German and Dutch grōte, English groat. In the 14th century as Old Czech groš.^[1] whence Modern German Groschen.

The Qirsh (also Gersh, Grush, Γρόσι (Grósi) and Kuruş), Arabic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Greek and Turkish names for currency denominations in and around the territories formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, are derived from the same Italian origin.

History

Tiroler Groschen of 1286

Names like Groschen, grossus/grossi, grosso, grossone, grosz, gros, groš, groat, Groten, garas etc. were used in the Middle Ages for all thick silver coins, as opposed to thin silver coins such as deniers or pennies. Historically it was equal to between several and a dozen denarii.

The type was introduced in 1271 by Duke Meinhard II of Tyrol in Merano. The 1286 example depicted here weighs 1.45 grams (22.4 grains), it is marked with ME IN AR DVS and a Double Cross (obverse), and with DUX TIROL and the Eagle of Tyrol (reverse)

It was minted since the Middle Ages in the following areas:

• Tirol (since 1271)
• England (since 1279, the groat)^[2]
• Bohemia (since 1300, the Prague groschen, later adopted by most of the Central European countries)
• Poland (since 1367, the Cracow grosz, 3.2 grams (49 grains) of silver, an equivalent of 12 denarii)
• Moldavia (since the reign of Petru I, 1375–1391)
• The type was also minted during various times in the Duchy of Luxembourg, such as the 22 millimeter  ¹⁄₂ gros produced from 1418 to 1425 under John III the Pitiless, Duke of Bavaria, bearing slightly varying inscriptions of "IOAH DVX BAVAR Z FILIVS" on the obverse, and "MONE NOVA LUCE BURS" on the reverse.^[3]

Later the tradition of Groschen was dropped in most states while others continued to mint only coins smaller than the original coin. In Poland for example, since 1526 these included coins of  ¹⁄₂ grosz, 1 grosz,  1 ¹⁄₂ grosz, 2 grosz, 3 grosz, 4 grosz and 6 grosz. Their weight gradually dropped to 1.8 grams (28 grains) of silver and since 1752 they were replaced by copper coins of the same name.

Emergency issue currency for the Siege of Kolberg (1807), 4 groschen

In Germany, the name Groschen (both singular and plural) replaced Schilling as the common name for a 12 pfennig coin. In the 18th century it was used predominantly in the northern states as a coin worth  ¹⁄₂₄ of a Reichsthaler (equal to  ¹⁄₃₂ of a Conventionsthaler). In the 19th century, beginning in 1821 in Prussia, a new currency system was introduced in which the Groschen — often called the Silbergroschen (Prussia, from 1821) or Neugroschen (Saxony, from 1840) to distinguish it from older Groschen — was worth  ¹⁄₃₀ of a Thaler or Taler. Following German unification and decimalisation, the Groschen was replaced by the 10 pfennig coin and Groschen remained a nickname for the 10 pfennig coin until the introduction of the euro. For the same reason, the name Sechser (sixer) remained in use regionally for the half-Groschen coin, 5 Pfennigs.

There is a Beethoven rondo for piano, opus 129 (1795) entitled "Die Wut über den verlorenen Groschen" (literally "The rage over the lost groschen", but known as "Rage over a Lost Penny").

Modern currencies

In recent times, the name was used by two currencies in circulation:

• In Poland a grosz (plural: grosze or groszy, depending on the number) is a  ¹⁄₁₀₀ part of a złoty
• In Austria a Groschen (plural: Groschen) was a  ¹⁄₁₀₀ part of a schilling (1924–38 and 1945–2001)

Likewise, in Germany Groschen remained a slang term for the 10 pfennig coin, thus a  ¹⁄₁₀ part both of the (West German) Deutsche Mark and the East German Mark. The word has lost popularity with the introduction of the Euro, although it can still be heard on occasion, especially from older people.

In Ukraine, grosh is still a slang term for the kopiyka, a  ¹⁄₁₀₀ part of a hryvnia. The Ukrainian and Belarusian word for money, hroshi, ultimately derives from this term also.

In Bulgaria, the grosh (Cyrillic: грош) was used as a currency until the lev was introduced in the 19th century.

In Palestine during the British Mandate, a grush was a coin with a hole in it, valued at  ¹⁄₁₀₀ part of a pound (ten mils). It was named after an Ottoman coin. When the pound was replaced by the lira after Israeli statehood in 1948, the name was transferred to a coin (no longer with a hole) worth  ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a lira (ten perutot, later one agora). The name persisted for a while after the lira was replaced by the shekel in 1980 (one new agora, worth ten old agorot), but it gradually lost its standing as the name of a certain coin. Now it is a slang for a very small value.^[4]

Austrian 2 Groschen coin, 1925

Austrian 10 Groschen coin, 1994

Austria introduced the Groschen in 1924 as the subdivision of the schilling. It was restored, along with the schilling, in 1945 and continued in use until the introduction of the euro in 2002.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Groschen.

• Prague groschen
• Kraków grosz
• Guldengroschen (golden groschen)
• Silbergroschen (silver groschen)
• Neugroschen (new groschen)
• Die Dreigroschenoper, The Threepenny Opera
• Qirsh
• Kuruş
• Groat (coin)
• Venetian grosso

References