Money pouch (Chazza), late medieval/early 16th century purse, brown

Product description

In the Middle Ages you carried your money – exclusively coins – in a leather pouch on your belt. Pickpockets were skilled at cutting such a well-filled pouch loose unnoticed in the crowd at the market. At the beginning of the 16th century, therefore, the money pouch came into use: a purse that offered more security because it was often worn under the outer garment. There is disagreement about the origin of the name. Some point to the Old High German chazza, which means 'pouch' or 'storage place'; others think that animal skins were originally actually used to make them.

The principle is simple: a long tube of soft sheepskin leather with widened ends and a slot in the middle where exactly one coin can pass through. Two brass rings, smaller than the coins, you slide to the ends to lock the money. If you want to pay, you slide them towards the slot. You wear the money pouch hung over your belt or fastened lengthwise to it. Anyone who felt the coins in the purse while haggling, counting them by touch, was about to make a purchase.

An authentic detail for late medieval and early 16th-century re-enactment, executed in brown leather.