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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;chrisild, post: 1656153, member: 39&quot;]This is a coin which I do not have but find interesting. In 1917 Saxony issued a 3 mark coin that commemorated the 400th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. Two problems though ...</p><p><br /></p><p>First, having Martin Luther on the coin was a No-No. After all, he was not a royal, and thus not &quot;suitable&quot; in those years. Maybe that rule could have been changed - but such a change for Luther, while the country (this was during WW1) was supposed to be united and stand together, nah. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; So, who to pick instead?</p><p><br /></p><p>The ultimate choice was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_III,_Elector_of_Saxony" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_III,_Elector_of_Saxony" rel="nofollow">Frederick the Wise</a> who had defended and supported Luther but, being an elector and all, he was considered to be OK. The designer then used a portrait from a 1522 coin, <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Friedrich_der_Weise-Münze.jpg/800px-Friedrich_der_Weise-Münze.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Friedrich_der_Weise-Münze.jpg/800px-Friedrich_der_Weise-Münze.jpg" rel="nofollow">see here</a>, and added the first words of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mighty_Fortress_Is_Our_God" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mighty_Fortress_Is_Our_God" rel="nofollow">Ein feste Burg</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Originally a mintage of more than 300,000 was planned ... but again the war was in the way, so to say. So only 100 (right, one hundred) were minted, and issued in April 1918. The others were supposed to come after the end of the war.</p><p><br /></p><p>Except that the end of WW1, and the revolution in 1918, also meant the end of the monarchy in the Deutsches Reich. No more Saxon (or other) kings, no more &quot;Friedrich der Weise&quot; coins. Attached is an image from a museum in Berlin; somewhat larger photos are here:</p><p><br /></p><p>(obv) <a href="http://www.smb.museum/mk_edit/images/475/vs_opt.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.smb.museum/mk_edit/images/475/vs_opt.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.smb.museum/mk_edit/images/475/vs_opt.jpg</a></p><p>(rev) <a href="http://www.smb.museum/mk_edit/images/475/rs_opt.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.smb.museum/mk_edit/images/475/rs_opt.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.smb.museum/mk_edit/images/475/rs_opt.jpg</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Christian[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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