Silver Fürstengroschen Balthasar of Thuringia (1381-1407 | Knight in the Hundred Years' War)

Silver Fürstengroschen of Balthasar of Thuringia – Earnest Money of a Knight from the Hundred Years' War

A small, irregularly hammered disc of silver, barely larger than a two-euro coin – and yet a witness to the late Middle Ages. The Fürstengroschen of Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia was struck from 1393 onwards, at the state mint of Freiberg and at the mint of Sangerhausen, which was established specifically for this purpose. What you receive is not a modern restrike or a medal, but genuine legal tender from the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation that has survived for over six centuries.

The Coin's Issuer: A Wettin Knighted in 1369

Balthasar of Wettin, born in 1336 in Weißenfels, was no armchair prince. He rode alongside the English King Edward III into the Hundred Years' War and was knighted in 1369. Following the Chemnitz Partition of 1382, he received the Landgraviate of Thuringia, having previously been Margrave of Meissen. In 1391 he had the Sangerhausen mint built – its groschen were the first to be produced outside the state mint of Freiberg, fed by silver from Harz mining. When Balthasar died in 1406 at the Wartburg, the minting of the Fürstengroschen ended, and the Sangerhausen mint was closed. This is precisely what makes this type from the Meissen-Saxon groschen era so appealing to collectors: a clearly defined window of time, tied to the life of a single man.

Coin Design and Legend: Cross of Lilies, the Meissen Lion, and the Mysterious "b"

• Obverse: a cross of lilies within a quatrefoil; in the outer angles are the letters of the word CRVX (cross) – their arrangement served as a silent code for mint officials and money changers, not for the general public.
• Legend: BALTh(A) • DI • GRACIA • TVRING • LANG, meaning "Balthasar, by the Grace of God Landgrave of Thuringia".
• Reverse: the rampant Meissen lion facing left, with the mark "b" in front of it – the hallmark of the Fürstengroschen, established in the 1393 coinage agreement with Margrave Frederick the Warlike.
• Mint abbreviations: BALTh indicates Freiberg, BALThA indicates Sangerhausen.
• Catalogue reference: listed in the standard reference work by Gerhard Krug, "Die meissnisch-sächsischen Groschen 1338 bis 1500" (Berlin 1974).

Technical Data at a Glance

• Precious metal: silver, hammered coinage using medieval technique
• Face value: groschen (Fürstengroschen), originally referred to as a "half-fine groschen" upon introduction
• Gross weight: 2.85 g
• Diameter: 27 mm
• Country: Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
• Year of issue, mint, fineness, and grade: various

The fineness varies considerably for historical reasons: to support the regional currency, the Fürstengroschen was initially valued at around 23 pieces to one Rhenish guilder – from 1396 onwards, coins were struck with a significantly reduced silver content, with the blanks boiled in tartar to give the surface a silvery-white appearance. This concealment technique is today a tangible piece of economic history in its own right.

On Condition: These Are Circulated Pieces – And They Look It

Darker patina, individual centring, small nicks, wear, and areas where the legend is more faintly struck: these are not flaws but biography. Every trace stems from hands that used these coins centuries ago to settle goods, freight, or debts. Since the year of issue, mint, and reverse variant may vary, the item delivered may differ from the image shown.

Please understand the photo in the shop explicitly as an example image: appearance, exact weight, and condition vary from piece to piece for historical reasons. You are purchasing an original.

A Collector's Piece with Substance – Why Silver Convinces

Silver has been a monetary and coinage metal for millennia, a symbol of wealth and prestige, and remains to this day a medium of exchange for smaller transactions. Unlike unbacked paper money, which rests solely on trust, it possesses intrinsic value: industry, electronics, solar and medical technology create constant demand, while the extractable supply remains limited. Anyone collecting historical silver coins combines numismatics with tangible real assets – making this groschen both a piece of history and a building block for inflation hedging and crisis protection.

Compared to later Wettin types such as the Schildgroschen or the Helmgroschen, which appeared from 1405 onwards with a higher silver content, the Fürstengroschen is the older, historically more charged representative – though often simpler in design and lower in silver content. Compared with modern fine silver bullion coins, it does not score points with its fine weight, but rather with its rarity, provenance, and storytelling power. A note for collectors and investors: in Germany, profits from the sale of silver are generally tax-free provided a minimum holding period of one year is observed. Precious metal endures across generations, is durable, liquid at any time, and can be passed down within the family – together with a story that ends at the Wartburg and continues in your collection. Shipping is carried out as insured value shipping.