The Dreipfenniggröschlein, commonly called the Dreier or Dreyer, was a coin initially minted in the Electorate of Saxony from the 16th century. The Saxon coins referred to as DreiersBarber, Klaus (2015). Dreier. Altes Kleingeld in 007 ist auf 17. Berühmte Zahlen und ihre Geschichten, Cologne: Bastei Lübbe, ISBN 978-3-404-60821-8 and ISBN 3-404-60821-6, S. 70; preview at Google Books were initially minted according to the coinage regulations of Duke George the Bearded from 1534 and were thus initially part of Saxon coinage history. Four Dreiers were equivalent to 3 Zinsgroschen.Leipziger historische Abhandlungen, Vol. 16 – 18 (1910), p. 20 (note 4); preview at Google Books The coins were initially made of silver or the silver/copper alloy, billon.
The coins, which were stamped with the number "3" and were later only made of copper, spread as a means of payment in other states throughout Central and Northern Germany up to the 19th century, including the Kingdom of Prussia and the Duchy of Brunswick where they were known as Dreipfennigstücke (three pfennig pieces).Richard Klimpert: Lexikon der Münzen, Maße und Gewichte. Zählarten und Zeitgrößen aller Länder der Erde, Berlin: C. Regenhardt, 1885, p. 63; Google-Books But also in other European countries the Dreier was a common small coin.
See also Dreiling - a coin of the HRE worth 3 pfennigs
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External links
Dreier of the city of Halberstadt, 1633 from the Cathedral Treasury and Cathedral of St. Stephen and St. Sixtus in Halberstadt, part of the Saxony-Anhalt Cultural Foundation, images and explanation via the portal museum-digital