roy

re: German Postal Money Order 1873

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roy

re: German Postal Money Order 1873

It looks like a currency conversion, but it is not into Sterling.

Currency conversions of that period of time can be closely estimated by studying the weights and metal content of silver and gold coins of the time, since any misalignment would result in a flow of coins from one country to another.

The German Mark of 1873 was a 5.55 gm coin of .900 fine silver with a silver content of .1606 oz actual silver weight (ASW).

This was almost exactly equivalent to the British shilling, which was a 5.655 gm coin of .925 fine silver with ASW of .1682.

Since there are 20 shillings to the Pound, these numbers imply an exchange rate of approximately 20 Marks per Pound Sterling (plus or minus about 5%).

Therefore 38 Marks would buy slightly less than £2.

Note that the receiving station appears to be Zwickau. This is in Saxony. Southern Germany used a three-tier currency until unification with the rest of Germany, and I am sure it was still prevalent only 3 years after that happened in 1870.

10 pfennig = 1 Neu-Groschen
30 ng = 1 Thaler

Saxony minted a 1 Thaler coin in 1871 of .5360 ASW, or the equivalent of 3.34 Marks coins.

Applying this exchange rate to 38.47 Marks returns 11.5 Thaler. This appears to me close enough to the 16 Thaler 13 Neu-Groschen 5 pfennig that I believe this has been translated to. The difference between the 11 Thaler calculated and the 16 Thaler could be explained by a depreciation of the Thaler currency relative to the German currency a short time after German unification and after the Franco-Prussian war.

So, the short answer is that I believe the currency is Saxony's Thaler / Neu-Groschen / Pfennige.

Roy

 
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re: German Postal Money Order 1873

Here's my 2 thalers ...

I confess to being no expert on this subject, but just looking at the document, wasn't the money paid in Arnstadt(?). If this is so the vereinthaler was at an official exchange of 3 marks per all the way up to whenever it was demonetarized in 1908 or so. The 38.47 M paid out in Zwichau would have been a conversion from whatever was paid in and not the currency of saxony. The official conversion rates from all the various states were officially fixed as I understand it. There were some fees related to these conversions to gold marks from the various silver currencies as well, but as they were all fixed by decree depreciation should not have anything to do with it. The mark was only first issued in 1873.

Obviously 3 times 16 is not 38 so there must be other factors or its not arnstadt but Looking at the various official rates I could not see any that would work out precisely.
I think the first thing to establish is what the actual issuing location was as that will establish the official exchange. The exchange appears to be about 2.4

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jmh67

28 Feb 2020
04:02:36pm

re: German Postal Money Order 1873

IMHO this is a conversion between Gulden and Thaler. 28 (not 38, compare with the "3" in "13") Gulden 47 Kreuzer correspond to 16 Thaler 13 Neugroschen 5.14... (Prussian) Pfennig (or 4,28... Saxon Pfennig). Apparently they rounded up. Remember that 60 Kreuzer make 1 Gulden, and 7 Gulden = 4 Thaler.

-jmh

 
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