Wiener Pfennig#

Wiener Pfennig (Viennese Pfennig), coin emerging from the Kremser Pfennig (from around 1110/1120). Around 1193/1194 Leopold V had the Babenberg mint moved from Krems (thus: Kremser Pfennig) to Vienna. The annual "Muenzverruf", the forging of old valueless coins in order to give them the appearance of new ones, was a special feature of the classical Wiener Pfennig period, which lasted until the 80s of the 14th century. It was responsible for the enormous abundance of images on the Wiener Pfennig coins. The Wiener Pfennig was widely used in the 14th century (Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Salzburg, Upper Bavaria, Styria, Carinthia); the first half of the 15th century was characterised by runaway inflation ("Schinderlingszeit" period around 1455: 1 Goldgulden = 240 Wiener Pfennig coins, 1460: 3,600 Wiener Pfennig coins). The Wiener Pfennig was later replaced by the Goldgulden with the Groschen and silver Kreuzer coins as smaller denominations; the Pfennig itself was only used as the smallest token coin.

Literature#