Flag of Bremen with coat of arms. The depicted key features on many coins from Bremen.
History
The Archbishoproc of Bremen was founded by Charlemagne in 787 AD, but politically part of the Duchy of Saxony until its dissolution in 1180. The archbishopric became an episcopal state of the Holy Roman Empire, and the city itself a Free City a few years later in 1186. The city and archbishopric would never be reunited again, with the latter passing to Sweden in 1632 and eventually becoming part of the Electorate of Hanover in 1715.
Bremen became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1260, and would remain so until 1669, albeit with some significant intermezzos outside the League as Bremen's merchants often disagreed with the political course of other Hanseatic cities.
The 16th and 17th centuries were marked by religious unrest. The Reformation started in Bremen in 1522, and it was contested by Lutherans, Reformatist and Catholics until the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. During the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1814) Bremen was annexed by France in 1806. The city's independence was subsequently restored at the Congress of Vienna (1815), when it became part of the German Confederation.
Location of Bremen near Oldenburg and Hanover. Also shown is the small coastal exclave of Bremerhaven.
Due to the narrowing of the Weser River the exclave of Bremerhaven was founded in 1827 which became the new port of Bremen. Bremerhaven is currently still part of the State of Bremen, even though the two parts are geographically separated by the state of Lower Saxony.
Currency and coins
Bremen minted its first coins in the early 11th century, even before it became a free city. Back then the Carolingian monetary system was in place, with 240 Pennies (Pfennige) constituting 1 Pound of silver. Over the centuries the weight of the Pfennige was reduced until it more or less reached 240 Pfennige per Cologne Mark, approximately equal to 234 grams.
In the 15th century the Schware Pfennig (heavy Pfennig) was introduced. It was valued at 3 ordinary Pfennige. One Groten, a local name for Groschen, was worth 4 Schware. In 1541 the system was 1 Mark = 32 Grote = 64 Witte = 128 Schware, influenced by the Lübeck Mark that was used in many parts of Northern Germany. A Verding was ¼ Mark or 8 Grote.
Like many parts of Germany Bremen adopted the Reichsthaler in the 16th century. Its value was set to 72 Groten in 1603, and there were now 5 instead of 4 Schware in a Groten. So the system became 1 Thaler = 1½ Gulden = 2¼ Mark = 72 Grote = 360 Schware.
The Bremen Thaler mostly followed the imperial standards of the Thaler, set at 1/9 Cologne Mark in 1572. Over time its value diverged to 13½ per Mark while the Prussian standard had been 14 per Mark since 1750. In 1857 they were officially pegged at a rate of 34 Prussian Silbergroschen per Bremen Thaler. The Bremen Thaler was pegged to gold at a rate of 420 Thaler per 500 grams.
In 1873 the Bremen Thaler was replaced by the German Mark at a rate of 21⅔ Groten. After this the City of Bremen minted denominations from 2 to 20 Marks of the national currency in low mintages until the outbreak of World War I.
Catalogue
Free City of Bremen (1186-1871):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/bremen_free_imperial_city-1.html
Below's split goes beyond my logic:
Hanseatic City (1871-1918):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/bremen_hanseatic_city-1.html
Related entities:
Archbishopric of Bremen (787-1632):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/bremen_archbishopric-1.html
Bremen-Verden (1632-1715):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/bremen_verden_swedish-1.html
Bishopric of Verden (until 1632):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/verden_bishopric-1.html
