SCHERF CORPORATION is presenting the varied business interests of Dietmar Scherf including his original artworks of Contemporary Art. We're also involved in Publishing and Public Relations with the objective to enhance the quality of life.
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Below we describe an interesting aspect to the SCHERF as a coin during its 1200-year history:
A SCHERF was a halfpenny or obol
from the time of the Carolingians (8th and 9th century). The name comes from the Latin "scripulum" (a small rock), meaning the smallest part of a measure or weight. In popular speech the expression was applied to small coins in general. The name changed from "scrip," "scirp," "scarp" to Old High German "scerpf" and to Middle High German of "scherpf," "scherff" to SCHERF (the smallest coin). The official SCHERF was issued and used in Germany in the towns of Lübeck and Erfurt around 1570-1621 A.D. Later and until the year 1777, in the town of Lüneburg (Germany), the SCHERF coins were frequently issued as a 3, 6 and 12 SCHERF. The SCHERF was first used as a silver coin and later as a copper coin in value of a halfpenny. If someone gives his "Scherflein" as a contribution to something, it means that he gives a little money or other small gift to a greater whole. "Scherflein" is the diminutive form of SCHERF.
