Definition

• A name given to both coins and tokens that were issued by the great monastic establishments. Some of these pieces were not coins in the modern sense, but were intended as Tesserae Sacrae for use of pilgrims and monks who travelled from one religious house to an- other.

  Others, however, were legitimate coins, and the issues of the abbatial mint of St. Martin at Tours were noted during the Middle Ages.

  Abbesses as well as abbots enjoyed the privilege of striking coins. The most no- table are those of the Frauenmunster in Zurich, and the abbeys of Quedlinburg, Herford, Essen, and Thorn in Brabant.

Source

• Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)

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