Bavaria 1880-D 2 mark
This specimen was lot 6169 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €3,200 (about US$4,454 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"REICHSSILBERMÜNZEN, BAYERN, Ludwig II. 1864-1886. 2 Mark 1880. Seltener Jahrgang. Vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (Germany, kingdom of Bavaria, Louis II, 1864-86, two mark of 1880, rare date, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
This type was struck 1876-77, 1880 and 1883. Tho less costly than other Wilhelmine two mark, it is still expensive in nice condition. The victory of the Germans in the Franco-Prussian war resulted in the foundation of the German Empire. One of the results of unification was the termination of separate coinages for each of the independent states, including Bavaria. No more thalers were struck after 1871. Bavaria continued to issue coins using the united empire standard in the denominations of two, five, ten and twenty mark until 1918 when the empire collapsed at the end of World War One. The old thalers continued to circulate as three mark pieces. King Ludwig II ruled until 1886, when he was deposed in favor of his brother, Otto. Disliked for his extravagance and his homosexuality, he died soon after under very mysterious circumstances.
Recorded mintage: 168,974.
Specification: 11.11 g, 0.900 fine silver, reeded edge.
Catalog reference: KM 903, J. 41.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Jaeger, Kurt, Die Deutschen Münzen seit 1871, Basel: Münzen und Medaillen AG, 1982.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 354: Munzen und Medaillen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. Braunschweig-Luneburg. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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