Ready to resume our quest of viewing some of Europe's nicest silver coins produced by the 1,800 German Free States in existence before 1871? Our long journey brings us to the alphabetical highway sign "F" and points the way to Franfurt am Main. Frankfurt was one of the most important cities in the Holy Roman Empire. From 855 German Kings and Emperors were elected in Frankfurt and crowned in Aachen. From 1562 the kings/emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt, Maximillion II being the first. This tradition ended in 1792, when Franz II was elected. His coronation was deliberately held on Bastille Day, July 14, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The elections and coronations took place in St. Bartholomäus Cathedral, known as the Kaiserdom (en: Emperor's Cathedral), or in one of its predecessors. Where in Germany is Frankfurt am Main located? Here's a map courtesy of Wikipedia: Scroll down to map on right side of page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_am_Main The following coin photos are courtesy of worldcoingallery.com unless noted otherwise: Kreuzer Denominations: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc3/73-fr253&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm2531Kreuzer(1773-1774)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc2/73-fr312&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm3121Kreuzer(1838-1857)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc2/73-fr317&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm3171Kreuzer(1839)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=img16/73-fr313&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm3133Kreuzer(1838-1846)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc11/z1094&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm3343Kreuzer(1846-1856)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc11/z1095&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm3733Kreuzer(1866)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc11/73-fr314&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm3146Kreuzer(1838-1846)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc11/73-fr335&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm3356Kreuzer(1846-1856)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain Pfennig Denominations: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc11/z1088&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainkm2681Pfennig(1786-1806)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=nmc7/73-frtn5&desc=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMainTn51Pfennig(1819)&query=GermanStateofFrankfurtamMain (Following coin photos courtesy of coinarchives.com unless noted otherwise) Gulden Denominations: Note: German Doppel translates toEnglish as Double or 2. If you read Doppelgulden or Doppelthaler just remember those two words in English can be interpreted as Doublegulden and Doublethaler. Each coin will bear a 2 on its denominational amount side. http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1054168&AucID=978&Lot=4289&Val=b7896ab01707e1a26ad4c321d9dc85fa http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1054170&AucID=978&Lot=4291&Val=d3ff7a158018679335dc0d9748629312 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=964420&AucID=714&Lot=1163&Val=fe573138ca175bdfe42dafac31e6663e http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=964421&AucID=714&Lot=1164&Val=1f848cf9b57e02f2981db043bb7755de Fractional Thaler Denominations: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1057357&AucID=979&Lot=3153&Val=6e48cdfab0f79bde2e8709ff12be0ff6 Thaler Denominations: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=964417&AucID=714&Lot=1160&Val=ebe4dc83119a25bb6e17b08dae256457 Remember German Doppel tranlates to English double so a Dopplethaler is Doublethaler or 2 Thaler. http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1054163&AucID=978&Lot=4284&Val=b652d1d9ec00b7373473a0f872f0a29a http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1054167&AucID=978&Lot=4288&Val=0431dbca4a218bb7329ef4de3e2dd935 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1054172&AucID=978&Lot=4293&Val=3ea00daaf844cebe781b31a4189ae488 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1058902&AucID=981&Lot=5060&Val=a32e26719fee4fd7d06a65df701c7c1c http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=964419&AucID=714&Lot=1162&Val=fbe1efb5d0b302e6390e0039086eb0f0 Dukat/Dukaten Denominations: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1054165&AucID=978&Lot=4286&Val=1f2ad9adbae71c64ba6cb725f1f227aa http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1058872&AucID=981&Lot=5030&Val=e8a5453bfe855a8dae33d7b8598dadbf http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1058896&AucID=981&Lot=5054&Val=78414764a1333a6d499f7cfd9dc8abf1 Hope you enjoyed seeing some of Frankfurt am Main's pre German Empire coinage. To be continued... Clinker
As for the history of Frankfurt, we could add that the city was also where the first democratically elected German parliament had its seat in 1848. A year later that "experiment" was over ... This coin that you showed us refers to that National Assembly: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotvi...Lot=4289&Val=b7896ab01707e1a26ad4c321d9dc85fa (The double headed eagle on that one refers to the empire; Frankfurt used a "normal" eagle to show that it was a Free City.) There are three coins in your list that in my opinion are not Frankfurt pieces but from Swedish territories: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotvi...Lot=5060&Val=a32e26719fee4fd7d06a65df701c7c1c (Stralsund, it seems) http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotvi...Lot=5030&Val=e8a5453bfe855a8dae33d7b8598dadbf (there is a reference to Leipzig) http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotvi...Lot=5054&Val=78414764a1333a6d499f7cfd9dc8abf1 (Riga, I suppose) This coin http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotvi...Lot=4293&Val=3ea00daaf844cebe781b31a4189ae488 shows the "Römer" in the heart of Frankfurt. It consists of several houses and served, and still serves, as the city hall. That coin was issued to commemorate the Fürstentag, a meeting of several German rulers aimed at reforming the German Confederation. The Prussian king however decided to not participate. Three years later, after the Prussian-Austrian war of 1866, Prussia annexed Frankfurt. Today Frankfurt is the biggest city in the state of Hesse. Christian
