Bavaria 1898-D 5 mark
This specimen was lot 6182 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €240 (about US$334 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"REICHSSILBERMÜNZEN, BAYERN, Otto II. 1886-1913. 5 Mark 1898. Vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (Germany, kingdom of Bavaria, Otto II, 1886-1913, five mark of 1898, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
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. This type was struck 1891-1908 and is common. King Otto, traumatized by his combat experience in the Austro-Prussian war, ruled under a regency for his entire reign.
Recorded mintage: 303,040.
Specification: 27.77 g, 0.900 fine silver, lettered edge.
Catalog reference: KM 915, J. 46, Dav-618.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns and Talers, Since 1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- 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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