Flag of the Grand Duchy of Baden
History
The Margraviate of Baden was formed out of the early medieval Duchy of Swabia in 1112. Over the centuries, it was partitioned and reunited many times until its final reunification in 1771 when the last margrave of Baden-Baden passed away and was succeeded by Charles Frederick of Baden-Durlach.
Baden in the 19th century bordering France and Switzerland in the south west of the German Confederation.
Especially the 17th century was quite harsh for the Badeners. Catholic Baden-Baden and protestant Baden-Durlach fought each other in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), and after the region suffered from invading French troops led by King Louis XIV.
In 1803 Baden was upgraded to an electorate (Kur-Baden) but this title became obsolete when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806. This was also the time when Baden expanded its territory significantly, absorbing many smaller states in the area and territories (known as Further Austria) that were ceded by the Habsburgs in 1805.
Baden was a member of the French-aligned Confederation of the Rhine until 1813 and the German Confederation from 1815 until 1866. It did not join the North German Confederation in 1866 but after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1) which took place at its borders it did join the German Empire in 1871. Baden's monarchy ended with the events of the November Revolution in 1918 in the aftermath of World War I. After the Second World War Baden was merged with Württemberg and Hohenzollern to form the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
Currency
Pfennig (1112-1386)
Similar to other early medieval German coinage Baden minted very thin Pfennigs which were called Brakteat or Hohlpfennig (Hollow Penny) as they were struck only on one side. In the 14th century the first Groschens were introduced as an imitation of the French Gros Tournois and was worth 12 Pfennige.
Goldgulden (1386-1623)
Along with other southern German states Baden was part of the Rhenish Monetary Union that was founded in 1386 based on the Goldgulden. The Goldgulden was an imitation of the Florentine Fiorino d'Oro and was divided in 28 Schilling each of 6 Pfennige or 12 Heller in the states of Baden and Württemberg. There were 60 Kreuzers in a Gulden and that would remain that way until 1873. At some point Baden adjusted its system so that 1 Kreuzer was 4 Pfennige. A Batzen was worth 4 Kreuzer, hence 2 Kreuzer coins are often referred to as Half Batzen even though the coins depict a '2' for the nominal value.
By the 16th century the Goldgulden was debased to 2/3 of its gold content and the first heavy silver equivalents (Gulden, Guldiner or Guldenthaler) were minted as 60 Kreuzer coins to replace the gold ones. Those early silver Guldens were quite heavy, with a weight set at 1/8 of a Cologne Mark in .937 (15/16) silver fineness.
Gulden in the Reichsthaler system (1566-1838)
In 1566 the Holy Roman Empire re-organised its monetary system as an attempt to unify the coinages of the different states. The Gulden was subdivided in 15 Batzen, 20 Kaisersgroschen, 30 Albus, 60 Kreuzer, 240 Pfennig or 480 Heller. The Reichsthaler was generally seen as worth 1½ Gulden and the Speziesthaler as 2 Gulden. A gold Ducat was 3 Gulden. There were initially 14½ Gulden in a Cologne Mark, but by 1667 this had increased to 16.
Not long after the Conventionsthaler of 1/10 of a Cologne Mark was introduced in 1754 it did follow other southern German states in devaluing from a 20 Gulden standard to a 24 Gulden standard. To distinguish both standards coins in the 24 Gulden standard had the name Landmünze (L.M.) on them, and the Convention coinage stated the value in Cologne Mark. In this somewhat confusing system a Conventionsthaler was 120 Kreuzer (convention) or 144 Kreuzer Landmünze.
From 1821 until 1828 Baden was officially on a decimal standard with 1 Thaler = 100 Kreuzer. A few coins of silver 100 Kreuzer and gold 500 Kreuzer were minted but it proved incompatible with the other German states. It also created confusion as the coins had Kronenthaler in its legend but it was worth much less than the actual Kronenthalers of 162 Kreuzer minted also by Baden and elsewhere in Southern Germany. From 1829 Baden reverted to minting normal Thalers and Kronenthalers.
South German Gulden (1838-1873)
The South German states adjusted their Gulden to a 24½ to the Cologne Mark standard in order to align it with the Prussian Thaler which was on a 14 Thaler standard. Their common coin was double denominated 2 Thaler and 3½ Gulden. From 1857 Baden started minting Vereinsthalers which were worth 7/4 Gulden, but continued the Gulden as main unit of account.
After the unification of Germany in 1871 the Mark replaced the Gulden in 1873 at a rate of 35 Kreuzer, which corresponded to the value of one third of a Vereinsthaler at which the Mark was valued. Baden continued to mint coins in higher denominations, with quite a few types being not overly rare. Not as common as the Prussian or Bavarian ones, but nevertheless not as rare as the Mark coinage of smaller German states.
Catalogue
Margraviate of Baden-Baden (1535-1771)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/baden_baden_margraviate-1.html
Margraviate of Baden-Durlach (1565-1771)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/baden_durlach_margraviate-1.html
Margraviate of Baden (1771-1803) and electorate (1803-1806)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/baden_margraviate-1.html
Grand Duchy of Baden (1806-1918)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/baden_grand_duchy-1.html
Next stop Württemberg? I have another nice post unification coin from there.