These 2 Mark coins were issued by Prussia in 1913 to commemorate 100 years from defeat of Napoleon. There were 1.5 million issued; There is also a similar 3 Mark coin. March 17th, 1813 seems to be the day where Prussian King Frederick William III declared resistance to Napoleon and called for war.
Thanks for posting the beautiful coin Inquisitive. It's such high relief (or at least looks so from the pic) it almost looks like a medal. Very nice! Bruce
Thanks, the high relief is noticable on the coin. It's surprising (to me) what good condition the coin is in, knowing it was probably circulated at some point (based on the origin).
Nice one Very cool coin, Great example! I always liked that design, I especially like the eagle and snake, and how the snake's mouth is wide open as he tries to bite the eagle. I hope, one day, to have an example of the type in my collection. I have a Prussian 3 Mark coin also minted in 1913, but struck to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Kaiser Wilhelm II 's reign, 1888 - 1913 A. I always liked the military bust he has in this one. Kinda hard to photograph in the flip, but I didn't want to take it out.... I did my best to get a shot of the edge lettering as well.
The date at the bottom of the "eagle and snake" coin refers to the Prussian king's proclamation "An mein Volk" by the way: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Mein_Volk The coin commemorates the centennial of that proclamation. Design wise it is OK. Its message however ... well, it is interesting that, in 1913, Prussia would issue a commem referring to a war in which some German countries were on the Prussian side while others were on the French side. Oh, and one year after issuing this piece, the Prussian-dominated Germany was at war with France again. Christian
Definitely so. In the German Empire, the 5 M coin was initially a gold piece. But that was too small, with a diameter of 17 mm ... "PS": Over in the Coin Chat area, Clinker has posted a "Trivia" series about coins of the German Empire. One of the topics is Prussia; have a look: http://www.cointalk.com/t150560/ Christian
You call that a 'small collection' eh Siberian Man? heh, just kidding, great coins, the 1901 type has always been one on the top of my list for Prussian silver coins, a beautiful obverse, also I hope to have a 1888-1913 five mark crown eventually, I like the three mark I have though. Someone graffito tagged up this 1861 coronation thaler by carving in two dates in the fields on the obverse, both the year ending in '83'. I wonder if it was meant to commemorate the dates in 1883 or 1983... I also wonder what the dates carved in were meant to symbolize to the people who carved them into this coin. In the left obv field is '24-3-83' and in the right field is what looks like '27-3-83' written European style, not surprisingly.... I did buy this coin in Arizona, USA though, for melt value a while back.... beautiful coin otherwise... I always particularly liked the coinjoined busts on this one and the 1901 style that you posted an example of Siberian Man, and I like the eagle stye on the 1861 reverse as well. Definitely interesting coins. chris, I didn't know the 5m used to be a small 17mm gold coin.... I have always had a thing for small coins, gold and silver....
I also have the 1861 Thaler in the accumulation that I am working on, I'm still thinking if I want to keep it or sell it: Another interesting coin: 1818 Prussian Thaler.
I always really liked the bust style, as well as the eagle and cannons used on the 1818 style thaler, that is another one at the top of my Prussian coin list. Cool coins.