| Bavarian Mint | |
|---|---|
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| Geographical information | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | |
| Historical information | |
| Date established |
1158 |
| Political information | |
| Owned by |
State owned |
| Governed by | |
| Director |
Günther Waadt |
| Employees |
63 |
| Website | |
| www.hma.bayern.de | |
The Bavarian Mint (German: Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt) is a currently operating German mint located in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. It is currently one of several institutions throughout the eurozone permitted to produce euro coinage.
History[]
The mint's mark on a 1911 coin.
The Bavarian Mint, founded in 1158, is currently considered the oldest company in Munich, having existed for over 850 years. It was initially built at the Schrannenplaz (now the Marienplaz) and coins were authorized to be minted the year of its establishment. During the 1290s, Bavarian coins became greatly devalued due to their low silver content. In protest, a number of Bavarian citizens destroyed the coin forges at the Munich Mint and killed then-current Münzmeister, Schmiechen. Subsequently the forges were reconstructed at the Münzstraße in Berlin.
Between 1705 and 1714, the Electorate of Bavaria became occupied by Austria as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession. During the occupation, both Austrian and Bavarian coinage was produced at the mint in Munich. In 1809, the Bavarian Mint was moved to the Old Mint Yard at the Hofgraben and Pfisterbach.
The German Empire was established in 1871, comprising of 25 states of the former German Confederation, including the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1873, two years following the Second Reich's founding, all state currencies were removed from circulation and replaced by a single currency, the gold mark. The Bavarian Mint, as well as mints in Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Muldenhütten, and Stuttgart, were permitted to issue coinage of the mark, and to identify the location each coin was minted at, each mint was assigned its own mint mark. The mint mark assigned to the Bavarian Mint, a D, has been present on all coins produced at the facility from 1873 to the present.
During World War II, the mint was damaged multiple times as a result of a number of allied air raids between 1939 and 1945. The allied forces occupied Germany after the Second World War had ended and took control of its mints in the process, issuing Reichsmark coins until 1949. During that year, Germany was split into the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), controlled respectively by the Western and Eastern allies of World War II. The Free State of Bavaria became part of Western Germany, and its mint subsequently began issuing coins for the currency reform. The mint was moved to the Zamdorf district of Munich on July 16, 1986, which is where it currently stands today. Germany was reunified in 1990, and the mints located in areas controlled by the Eastern allies began producing the coinage struck by the German Democratic Republic since 1949. The Bavarian Mint currently issues German euro coins, and has been doing so since 1997.
Coins and medals[]
Commemorative 2 euro coin struck at Munich.
The Bavarian Mint in Munich is currently one of the entities, along with the Berlin, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, and Stuttgart Mints, responsible for the production of general issue and commemorative German euro coins. It also currently issues coins of the Andorran Eagle bullion coin series. From the time of the mint's establishment to 1873, it was responsible for producing Bavarian coins. The Bavarian Mint then commenced striking gold mark coins in 1873, Papiermark coinage in 1915, Rentenmark specie in 1922, Reichsmark coins in late 1923, and Deutsche Mark in 1949. The mint in Munich has also produced coins for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, and Spain.
Besides coins, medals and official seal plates have been manufactured at the Bavarian Mint. The facility was responsible for the production of the Olympic medals for the 1972 Summer Olympics, which were held in Munich that year. Medals were subsequently made at the Bavarian Mint to commemorate the Kingdom of Bavaria, the porcelain factory at Nymphenburg Palace, and the mint itself.
References[]
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Template:German Mints