Matthiasgroschen Pubblico Deposited
A name originally bestowed on certain varieties of the silver Groschen of Goslar, struck in 1464. They bore on the obverse a bust of St. Matthew, the patron saint of the city, whose body it was claimed was brought to Goslar by the Emperor Henry III in the year 1040.
These coins were of the value of six Pfennige, and they were extensively copied in Hildesheim in 1663, in Hanover, etc., where their value was subject to considerable fluctuation.
The terms Matthier, Matier, or Mattier, are abbreviated names for coins of similar type struck for Ravensberg by Frederick William of Brandenburg. They were of the value of four Pfennige, or one half of, a Mariengroschen, and were used in Brunswick as late as the nineteenth century.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)