II.
LAND  BANKS,  MORTGAGE  BANKS,  COOPERATIVE ­
  SOCIETIES,  AND  SAVINGS
BANKS.

Banking  institutions,  acting  as  money  changers
and  safe-keepers  of  money  and  valuables,  have,
according  to  “  Poschinger,”  already  existed  at
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Under
the  auspices  of  the  Town  Council,  a  bank  was
established  in  1402  in  Frankfurt  a/Main,  with  a
capital  of  900  guilders  (about  £75  in  English
money),  which  was  provided  by  the  Town  Council
itself.  The  name  of  the  bank  was  "  Der  Wessil,”
meaning  “  Exchange.”  Already  in  1403  this  bank
was  reorganised,  by  being  turned  into  four  independent ­
  institutions,  probably  because  the  one
could  not  handle  all  the  business  offering  in  connection ­
  with  the  active  trade  at  the  fairs,  which
were  always  largely  attended.  In  1621  a  comparatively ­
  large  bank,  on  deposit  bank  principles,
was  founded  in  Hamburg,  modelled  on  an  institu ­