GROTEN: COIN OF BREMEN (GERMANY)
1/2 groten, 1771: Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
1/2 GROTE 1771 - D.B.
Sign D.B. under the date — mint engraver in 1763-1797 Rudolph David du Bois (Medallist and Mintmaster at Bremen).
Floral ornament.
MON. NOV. REIP. BREM: Latin "Moneta Nova Reipublicae Bremensis" — "New money /coin/ of the Republic of Bremen".
Coat of arms of Bremen: crowned silver key — a symbol of the Saint Peter, patron of Bremen Cathedral.
Rare type of coin (no analogue could be found on numismatic sites): "D.B." over the wreath, as in the variety of 1772 (and not under, as in the standard such coin of 1771).
Mintage: 139.000 (standard 1/2 grote 1771 coin).
- Silver: 15 mm - 0.68 g
- Reference price: 25$
COIN GROTEN — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
All known coins with the denomination groten belong to the numismatic section GERMAN STATES:
- ARCHBISHOPRIC OF BREMEN + FREE HANSEATIC CITY OF BREMEN (15th-19th centuries): groten = 1/32 mark, groten = 5 schwaren = 1/72 thaler
- COUNTY OF OLDENBURG + GRAND DUCHY OF OLDENBURG (17th-19th centuries): groten = 1/144 thaler, groten = 1/72 thaler
- DOMINION OF KNYPHAUSEN (19th century): groten = 1/72 thaler
The name of the groten coin (plural: grote) comes from the French "Gros Tournois" (French silver coin, which became widespread in Bremen in the XIV century and was called "groten tournos"). That is, gros tournois is a prototype of German groten.
By the way, the groten of the German state formation Jever (Dominion of Jever, 17th-19th centuries) contained the name of the face value of the coin in groot format (formally, another coin name).
