World coins chat: German States - Aachen

Aachen is a German city in the federal state of North Rhine Westphalia and was a Free Imperial City during the existence of the Holy Roman Empire. The city is especially known for having been the residence of Charlemagne and the Palatine Chapel where he was buried.

History
Aachen already existed in Roman times under the name Acquae Granni, named after the hot springs that were found there. But the city gained most of its historical significance when Frankish King and Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne made Aachen the most important of his residencies around 800 AD.

The city remained one of the most important of the Holy Roman Empire until the 16th century. Emperors were crowned in Aachen until the ceremonies were moved to Frankfurt. The Dutch Revolt (1568-1609) and subsequent Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) ravaged Aachen and it never recovered. It was an impoverished city when France annexed it in 1794.

After the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) Aachen was awarded to Prussia where it became part of the Rhine province. The city's historical center was heavily damaged during Second World War, mostly during the battles between Allied forces and German defenders near the end of the war. Quite miraculously the Palatine Chapel survived.

Currency
During the Middle Ages Aachen's currency situation mostly followed that of Cologne and the Rhenish Monetary Union. But from the 16th century it started to diverge due to frequent debasement of Aachen's unit of account: the Aachener Mark.

The Mark was divided in 2 Albus each of 12 Heller. A Bauschen was 4 Heller and an Aachener Gulden 6 Mark. In 1577 there were 26 Mark in a Reichsthaler. By 1754 this had become 54 Mark per Reichsthaler which meant that a Conventionsthaler was worth 72 Mark.

As the city was relatively poor it did not produce many coins, with only a few issues towards the end of the 18th century. But its 4 and 12 Heller coins of those days were minted in large numbers which explains that they are not as rare as one would expect. In 1821 the Aachener Mark was replaced by the Prussian Thaler at a rate of 54 Mark per Thaler. After this Aachen would only produce some emergency coins shortly after the First World War.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/aachen_free_imperial_city-1.html

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces3957.html

This is Aachen's most common coin. It features an imperial eagle with date on one side and denomination on the other. Reichsstadt means 'imperial city', a title which meant that the town was not subject to a land owning nobleman and was allowed to levy its own taxes.

Απόσπασμα: "jokinen"​
​​This is Aachen's most common coin.

... ​And the most affordable
I bet it is the only coin I'll ever get from this free city !

A bit later a soulless wolf was proudly despicted on coins