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1406, Saxony-Meissen, Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia. Silver Grossus Coin. R!

Mint Place: Freiberg
Mint Year: 1405/1406
Denomination: Broad Grossus (Breiter Groschen).
Reference: Krug 582/4. Rare type with letter "b" in obverse field!
Diameter: 28mm
Weight: 1.94gm
Material: Silver

Obverse: Heraldic lion rampart left. Privy letter ("b") and two annulets in field!
Legend: * + * GROSSVS ° MARCH ° MYSNENSIS

Reverse: Voided cross fleurée within quadrilobe, with lis at each inner angle. Four letters "C-R-V-X" at each outer angle.
Legend: . + . BALTHA ° DEI ° GRATIA ° TVRNG ° LANG

During the 15th century a skilled artisan or mercenary soldier in made 1 groschen per day as a wage or living allowance.

The March or Margraviate of Meissen (German: Mark(grafschaft) Meißen) was a mediæval principality, a march, of the Holy Roman Empire in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. The Mark of Meissen (cradle of Saxony) was founded 965 by Emperor Otto I; in 929, the German king Henry the Fowler built a fortress on the hill where Meissen Castle stands. During the tenth century, Meissen was populated by Slavic tribes who were subdued by the German margrave Gero the Great. The region between the rivers Elbe and Oder was then ruled by Gero as the margraviate of Sächsische Ostmark 937-965. When Gero died in 965, Ostmark was partitioned into five new margraviates, including Meissen, and also Nordmark which eventually became Brandenburg. In 1089, Meissen became the honor of the house of Wettin's possessions and remained as such even after it had been incorporated into the electorate of Saxony in 1423.

Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia (born 21 December 1336 in Weißenfels; died: 18 May 1406 at the Wartburg in Eisenach) was Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia from the House of Wettin.

Balthasar was the second son of Frederick the Serious. After his father's death in 1349, his elder brother Frederick the Austere acted as regent and guardian for Balthasar and his brothers William I and Louis. After they came of age, William and Balthasar ruled joinly with Frederick.

After Frederick's death, a conflict arose between the brothers Balthasar and William on the one hand, and their nephews, Frederick the Warlike, William the rich and George on the other hand. This was resolved on November 1382, with the so-called Division of Chemnitz in which Balthasar received the Landgraviate of Thuringia.

Balthasar first married, in the spring of 1374, with Margaret, the daughter of Burgrave Albert of Nuremberg (d. 1390). With her, he had a son: Frederick the Peaceable, who succeeded him as Landgrave of Thuringia.

After Margaret's death, Balthasar married Anna of Saxe-Wittenberg (d. 1426), the widow of Duke Frederick I of Brunswick-Lüneburg. This marriage remained childless.