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A billon coin current in Ger- many and the Low Countries in the four- teenth and fifteenth centuries. It was com- mon in Cologne, Trier, Mainz, ITessen, and the Palatinate, and gradually replaced the older Turnosgroschen.

The name Grossus Albus, or Weiss- groschen was given to these coins on ac- count of their white appearance, due to the silver of which they were composed, and which compared favorably with other coins of the same era.

An even earlier coin was the Denarius Albus, or Weisspfennig. It is frequently mentioned in records of the Middle Ages, and owes its name to its white, shiny ap- pearance. Both of these coins are more or less synonymous with the French Blanc, the Spanish Blanco, the Italian Bianco, and the Witten Pennine of the Low Coun- tries.

The later issues of the Albus, however, hardly deserved the name, as gradually more and more copper was added to their material, and their color naturally became darker. See Raderalbus, and Reiehsalbus.

See Also: Albus