Free German City State of Bremen - Last Coins First some previous numismatic history: Ever since 1276, when the Free State of Bremen joined the Hanseatic League, it was self-governing and issued it own currency. Even after Bremen became a State within the German Empire in 1871 it issued its own coinage, both minor and major. To keep this "thread" at the "trivia" size, I'm only going to present a few coins struck by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen for you're perusal. Photos courtesy of Don's World Coin Gallery (www.worldcoingallery.com): Bremen issued coins called Grotes in denomations of 1/2, 1, 6, 12, and 36: 6 Grote was equal to 1/12 Thaler 12 Grote equaled 1/6 Thaler 36 Grote equaled 1/2 Thaler Here's a photo of a 6 Grote (1/2 Thaler) issued in 1857: BREMEN 1857 SILVER 6 GROTE Here's an 1859 12 Grote (1/6 Thaler): BREMEN 1859 SILVER 12 GROAT The Free City State of Bremen also issued coins denominations of 1 Schwaren and 2.5 Schwaren. Here'a a photo of an 1866 2.5 Schwaren: BREMEN 1866 2.5 SCHWAREN Now is the time for you to view a Thaler the last coin before the Bremen issued the final self-struck coinage in denominations of Mark: BREMEN 1865 GOLD 1 THALER The last coins of the Free Hanseatic City State of Bremen were minted in 1905, '06 and '07: In 1904 Bremen authorized the minting of a 28mm silver (0.3215 oz. ASW) 2 Mark which was produced (100,000 circulation and 200 proofs) at the Hamburg Mint (J mintmark). Take a look: BREMAN 1904-J SILVER 2 MARK In 1906 Bremen authorized the minting of a 38mm silver (0.8037 oz ASW) 5 Mark (40,846 circulation and 600 proofs): BREMEN 1906-J SILVER 5 MARK Two gold coins were authorized in those final years of coins bearing the legend FRIE HANSESTADT BREMEN. A 1906-J gold 20 MAark and a 1907-J gold 10 Mark. No photo available, but they bear the same designs as the silver coins: Obverse - Key on crowned shield with supporters Reverse - Crowned Imperial Eagle; shield on breast Hope you enjoyed the last coins of Bremen... Clinker
Ah, the unbeaded twoer. That 2 M coin from 1904 was "against the law" - according to the coinage act, those pieces had to have a ring of beads, just as on the side with the eagle. The Bremen coin did not have one, but when that "mistake" was discovered, it was too late, the coins had already been issued. The production of the 5 M coin, however, could be stopped, and the beadless fivers were melted down - except for about 20 to 30 pieces. (One of those fetched more than €12,000 at an auction in 2006 ...) The new version was dated 1906, and had the beads. Those were the last Bremen coins issued during the years of the monarchy. In the Weimar Republic, Bremen issued undated "ersatz money" in 1924 - that is, after the inflation years. The coins came out in March 1924, in six denominations (2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Pfennig and 1 Mark) but were withdrawn six months later when the Reichsmark coinage came out. Here is a 20 Pf piece for example: http://www.muenzauktion.com/bodde/item.php5?id=81218016 And people who collect "Bremen related" coins may also be interested in this one: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/images/coins/de_2010.jpg That is a €2 commem from the series of State Twoers. Nice design, except that the country indicator on the ring is just a "D" (as on the license plates) and not the "DE". Maybe the government did that because it has not made it to the times of ISO codes and top level domains yet. That single D looks like a mintmark ... Christian
