Pfennig

The pfennig (German: [ˈpfɛnɪç]; pl. pfennigs or  pfennige ; symbol Pf. or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, it lost its value through the years and was the minor coin of the Mark currencies in the German Reich, West and East Germany, and the reunified Germany until the introduction of the euro. Pfennig was also the name of the subunit of the Danzig mark (1922–1923) and the Danzig gulden (1923–1939) in the Free City of Danzig (modern Gdańsk, Poland).

The pfennig is etymologically related to the English penny, the Swedish penning, which was also model for the Finnish penni (1860–2001), the Polish fenig (1917–1918), the Lithuanian word for money - Pinigai and the pfenig (fening) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1998–today). The etymology of all of these is not completely clear, but seems to rely on the way coins were minted during the Middle Ages: the base material were thin flat metal discs. The value was embossed from one side, creating a pan (German: Pfanne)-like coin. In some German countries (such as Prussia and Bavaria), coins had similar but different names, as pfenning, penning, pending, pfanding and penny. This was for better handling due to different currencies (of different states within the Deutscher Bund) used simultaneously.

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