NEW BOOK: THE COINS AND MEDALS OF MERSEBURG

Manfred Mehl
Die Münzen und Medaillen von Merseburg von den Anfängen bis 1738.
Verlag Manfred Mehl,
Hamburg, 2015.
250 pages with illustrations in color and black and white.
21.8 x 30.3 cm. Hardcover.
ISBN: 978-3-933420-04-0.
50 euros.

Once again, Manfred Mehl presents a new, exemplary corpus that brings together everything a numismatist can access: the material, the archival records, and the hoard finds. This time, the subject-matter is Merseburg, the important cathedral city on the Saale River that became an imperial palace as early as the 10th century. In 980, the city was granted the minting privilege by Otto II for the first time.

The first coins we can surely identify, however, date to the years between 1009 and 1018. Magnificent bracteates were manufactured in Merseburg before the production of coins was brought to a temporary halt around 1300. Yet Merseburg exerted his right to mint coins from time to time: in the 14th century when it produced bracteates, for example, or – being in good company with many others who remembered that they still possessed the minting privilege granted long ago – during the Kipper and Wipper Period.

Manfred Mehl is presenting the material with due attention to detail. He has written a type catalog that is the perfect tool to identify coins with. His book is much more though.

It starts with the history of research and goes on to tell the history of the Bishopric of Merseburg. Outclassing even the most comprehensive internet lexicon, Manfred Mehl examines the primary sources and the relevant literature. A documentation of all coin finds in the Merseburg region and an excursus on accounting in Merseburg are next. That is quite beneficial for those who still think of the pound as a unit of weight and the mark as a denomination. Better than any list of hoards, this itemization provides an insight into the different means of payment in Merseburg back then. In an exemplary manner, this chapter illustrates how much historical knowledge is still hidden in the archives.

The central part of book comes next, the catalog of the medieval coinage of Merseburg. A summary of the coinage and a list of all hoards containing coins made in Merseburg are followed up by the catalog, arranged according to the different bishops. A biography is provided for every bishop, even for those in whose era no coins had actually been minted. The coins struck under a particular bishop are next, with photographs including a drawing, if necessary, and a detailed description, a list of finds of which the particular piece has been part of, and a list of collections that includes the type of coin. Another chapter deals with coins whose attribution to Merseburg is questionable.

To read the complete article, see:
Merseburg: A New Corpus Presented by Manfred Mehl (www.coinsweekly.com/en/News/4?&id=3492)

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