Counting tokens (rechenpfennig)

Counting token (German: rechenpfennig, French: jeton) - a metal mark for counting accepted in ancient and medieval times using a counting board (abacus).
Counting method:
Tokens are laid out in lines, with their value increasing from bottom to top: the bottom line is the line of units; the second, or the one following it, is the line of tens; the third is the line of hundreds; the fourth is the line of thousands, and so on.
The counter in the first line represents only 1, in the second line it represents 10, in the third – 100, in the fourth – 1,000, in the fifth – 10,000, etc. The counter placed between the first and second lines represents 5, between the second and third – 50, between the third and fourth – 500, etc., and in all cases it corresponds to five units of the rank whose line lies below it, and half the rank of the line that is located above it.

In the 13th century, counting tokens were first used in France and Italy, later in the Netherlands, and then spread throughout Europe. Rechenpfennigs were made in sizes from 20 to 28 mm, always with a low relief for ease of movement on the flat surface of the counting board.

During the Dutch Revolution (1568-1609), tokens with political texts and images were minted - their issue played a purely propaganda role.

Since the end of the 15th century, most of the counting tokens in Europe were minted in Nuremberg. In 1616, the City Council obliged all those who were engaged in the production of counting tokens to mint their name or initials on the product next to the inscription "counting token".
Over the centuries, almost all minters minted portraits of rulers of European powers on the obverse of the counting pfennigs, which also indicated where the main export of Nuremberg counting tokens went.

At the beginning of the 18th century in Europe, counting tokens finally lost their main purpose, but for a long time they were used as chips for gambling, checks in taverns or commemorative tokens.

Counting tokens (rechenpfennig)

Rechenpfennig by the types

Rechenpfennig by the countries

France

Germany

Clausthal

Nuremberg

Stolberg

Zellerfeld

Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands