pfennig

ペニヒ　—　Names of money

The small German coin.

Carolingian silver denarius8th–9th century Notgeld of Hamburg1921

It shares the same etymology as the British penny. In the Middle Ages, it was a silver coin, and for a long period, this single denomination was sufficient for daily payments.

⚠ Because they were issued by each territory, the content of a "Pfennig" varied. The situation where a coin from a neighboring town did not have the same value as one from one's own town persisted for several hundred years, later becoming a motivation for unification.