 The Bethmanns had been tax collectors and involved in minting or managing money since their origins in 15th-century northern Germany.Mayer Amschel's father had been a foreign currency trader and pawnbroker and he first gained access to the Prince of Hesse by catering to his penchant for rare coins.The rapid rise of the banking firm of "Gebrüder" (= Brothers) "Bethmann" after its founding in 1748 made the Bethmann family gulden millionaires – one of the richest families in Frankfurt during the second half of the 18th century.