World coins chat: German States - Schaumburg-Lippe

Schaumburg-Lippe was a county in the Holy Roman Empire from 1647 to 1807 and a principality the German Confederation and German Empire until 1918. It was located near the city of Hanover.


Flag of the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe.

History
Schaumburg-Lippe was a result of the partitioning of the County of Schaumburg (or Schauenburg) that was ruled by the counts of Holstein. When the last count died without heirs, Schaumburg was partitioned and a small part was awarded to a branch of the nearby House of Lippe became Schaumburg-Lippe. They resided at Bückeburg Castle.


Schaumburg-Lippe (SL on map) was a tiny German state near Hanover.

Schaumburg-Lippe was upgraded to a principality in 1807 when it became part of the Confederation of the Rhine, a French client state that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. A couple of years after it remained a principality when it joined the German Confederation. Despite its small size (its population was approx. 45,000 in 1905) it always remained an autonomous German state, also after the neighbouring Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866. When the last prince abdicated after World War I Schaumburg-Lippe became a free state. It was incorporated into Lower Saxony after the Second World War.

Currency
Schaumburg-Lippe's coinage followed the monetary systems of neighbouring Hanover. A Thaler was divided in 24 Groschen, 36 Mariengroschen or 288 Pfennige.

In 1817 the Conventionsthaler was adopted, worth 1⅓ regular Thaler. In 1834 it joined the Prussian Thaler but the subdivisions remained the same. The Vereinsthaler was adopted in 1857, with a Thaler now following the Prussian subdivisions of 30 Silbergroschen each of 12 Pfennige.

After the German Unification the Vereinsthaler was replaced by the German Mark at a value of ⅓ Thaler. Schaumburg-Lippe continued to mint some higher denomination Mark coins in its name but in very low mintages.

Catalogue
County of Schaumburg-Lippe (1647-1807)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/schaumbourg_lippe_county-1.html

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe (1807-1918)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/schaumburg_lippe_principality-1.html

Here's a more detailed cartographic visual aid in case anyone's interested....



Between the currencies and the political divisions, those responsible for the HRE seem to be determined to make life as complicated as possible.

Thank you for pointing this one out on the map! I am actually getting familiar with the locations but I surely believe it is a black box for many.

I actually own 4 coins from Schaumburg-Lippe, all from the Vereinsthaler era.