3 pfennigs (withen)

In Swedish Pomerania, during the reign of Gustav IV Adolf (1778–1837), the money in circulation was foreign currency and old copper 3-pfennings (wittens), minted in 1776 in Stralsund. Formally, the provincial government approved the circulation of 2/3 of a thaler minted in other German states to the 12-thaler Leipzig standard. In the Reich, this was recognized as the state rate and was adopted, among others, in Saxony, Brandenburg and Brunswick. Despite these regulations, over time, small coins began to be lacking in Pomerania. In 1792, a decision was made to mint another series of copper coins with a face value of 3 pfennigs. The production was supervised by government councilor, Adolf Friedrich von Olthof (1718-1793), who was in possession of stamps and a roller press from the time of the royal mint lease during the Seven Years' War (1757–1762). Pursuant to the agreement with the government, he issued copper coins at 160 pieces per pound of copper (approx 468g) in the amount of 2,000 thalers. 384,000 pieces of copper coin went into circulation, which briefly improved the situation in small trade. The coins were minted to the old pattern from 1776, with the coat of arms of Pomerania on the obverse and the face value mark on the reverse. Lack of royal symbolism on the stamps could have been a deliberate attempt of the Crown cutting off from the copper coins without an official exchange rate. On the other hand, the griffin was an important symbol of Pomerania and was probably supposed to facilitate the circulation of Stralsund 3-pfenning coins. After the death of Count Olthof in 1793, the mint was shut down. Under the rule of Gustav IV Adolf, there were two more copper issues, in 1806 and 1808, followed by the official closure of royal mint in Stralsund. Genowefa Horoszko