Lubeck 1912-A 3 mark
This specimen was lot 2587 in Künker sale 439 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €850 (about US$1,169 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"REICHSSILBERMÜNZEN, LÜBECK Freie und Hansestadt. 3 Mark 1912. Feine Patina, polierte Platte, min. berührt. Aus der Sammlung Jürgen und Erika Schmidt, Bovenden. Exemplar der Lagerliste Fritz Rudolf Künker 176, August 2005, Nr. 865. (free city of Lübeck, three mark of 1912. Fine patina, proof, a little tooling.)"
Under the German Empire of 1871-1918, the denominations of two mark and up were permitted for the formerly independent principalities while the lower denominations (one pfennig thru one mark) were minted to a unified design. This type was struck 1908-14 and is fairly common. The three mark superseded the vereinsthaler which had been permitted to circulate after the unification of 1871. Lübeck contracted most of its coinage from Hamburg but this type was struck at Berlin.
Recorded mintage: 34,000.
Specification: 16.66 g, 0.900 fine silver, 33 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 215, Dav-477, J. 82.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns and Talers, Since 1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- Jaeger, Kurt, Die Deutschen Münzen seit 1871, Basel: Münzen und Medaillen AG, 1982.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 439: Gold Coins from around the world, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Malta and Saxony | German Coins after 1871 including Coins from the Collection of Jürgen and Erika Schmidt, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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