THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF GERMANY
The German Mint system inherited from that of Charlemagne the common features noticed already in the case of Florence, the Netherlands, and other countries, namely, the division of the silver libra into 20 solidi (schillingen), and of the solidus into 12 denarii (pfennige), so that 240 denarii = 1 libra. The solidus occurs (theoretically or in accompt) in both gold and silver. The gold solidus of the German system originally weighed less than the Frankish, which was 72 to the libra, while the German was 80 to the libra.
The ratio of gold to silver was 12:1, so that theoretically 1 pound silver = 1 oz. gold = 6 2⁄3 gold schilling.
In actual coins, 1 gold schilling = 3 silver schillingen = 36 pfennige.
Gradually this system was superseded by that of reckoning by the mark. The