The Prussian Taler is a commemorative that commemorates Prussian victory over Austria during the 1866 War. The Frankfurt piece is an 1844 2Taler. I collect mainly commemoratives and Free City Talers. But I have been known to pick up a few pieces that are not commem's or Free City coinage. The Lubeck 2Mark Proof is not an easy one to find, as the mintages are very low, I believe only 200 known Proofs were minted.
The Frankfurt 2Taler looks so much better in hand than in the photo. I only need the 1855 commemorative and the 1863 commemorative and I will have my Frankfurt commemorative set complete. My favorite of the commem's in my Frankfurt set is the 1848 2Gulden.
Great piece and photo! Except that the united and democratic Germany which the Frankfurt National Assembly was supposed to create did not actually have a long life. But that is not the coin's fault. Christian
Really great coins ! The exact proof minting figures for the Lübeck 2 - Mark of 1912 are not known, but I suppose you can assume that approximatly 200 specimens were made in proof. According to the standard catalogue of german coins ( Jaeger ) both in 1904 and 1906 200 proofs where made of this type. 100 - 300 proofs per issue where quiet common at the Berlin Mint wich produced the Lübeck coins.
Lovely coins Regandon, my favorite there is the Frankfurt Doppeltaler. I collect issues from Frankfurt, and I love those huge coins. Doppeltalers were actively used in day to day transactions, and one has to wonder how people managed with those huge heavy coins in their pockets.
The " Doublethalers " where actually called " Champagne - Taler ", wich probably means that the usual prize of a decent bottle of champagne was about 2 Thaler. I once read that they were not very popular due to their size and weight, especially in the Gulden - states, because 3 1/2 gulden was a somewhat difficult denomination in daily use.
I have just started this year a collection of Free City Talers, and Bavarian 19th century Commemorative 2Taler issues.
