These just in from @stldanceartist aka Benjamin... commemorative 2 euro coins featuring Neuschwanstein castle in the Bavarian Alps. I toured the castle on one of my visits to Germany, but this particular coin was not one I was able to find at the time and bring home with me. Probably Germany’s most photographed castle, Neuschwanstein was built by “Mad King” Ludwig II of Bavaria, and was the inspiration for the fairy tale castles at Disney amusement parks. That’s my photo on the left, and a stock photo on the right taken from the same angle as the coin image: And just to prove I was really there , a photo from earlier in the day of our group bike tour of the valley below the castle, with a stop (of course!) at the local biergarten… As with all modern mass-produced coinage, these have little numismatic value to speak of, but much like state quarters they can still be fun to collect. If you have a 2 Euro commem you’d like to share, post it up. And if it has a story behind it, all the better.
And before I forget, Benjamin is wonderful to do business with. I encourage everyone to check out his website.
Haha, I just wanted to see your pictures of your castle visit (never been inside a castle; the closest I've come is probably visiting Fort de Chartres in Southern Illinois (where I'm from) or maybe the broken down remnants of the fort in Portobelo, Panama. Didn't expect a plug out of it (but thank you anyway.)
I have a few but only one that I have photos of. I can't remember why I bought it. Portugal 2015 2 Euro - Sellers photo
I collected some of those but it not my main goal they just come from circulation. But here an in my opinion interesting one: This german Helmut Smidt comemorative is interesting because of the gesture he makes on this coin. It is believed that it was originally planned to put a cigarette between his fingers because he was a notorious chain smoker but then the mint didnt dare to put a cigarette on a coin because it didnt fit in the current goverment agenda so he now makes a "speaking gesture" that quite much looks like his smoking gesture: Here an original picture of him making this famous gesture:
