Prussia 1872-B 20 mark
This type was struck 1871-73 in substantial numbers from the Berlin (mintmark "A"), Breslau (mintmark "B") and Cleve (mintmark "C") mints during the reign of William I, emperor of Germany 1871-88. It was superseded in 1874 by a revised reverse. Tho this later type was struck 1874-88, it is not as common as the type shown here. There is a concurrent ten mark gold piece (Fr-3819) with a similar design. After the unification of Germany in 1871, the previously independent states were permitted to mint coins of a face value of two mark and up while the smaller coinage was struck to a uniform design. This specimen was lot 6458 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2017), where it sold for $376. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Prussia. 20 Mark, 1872-B. NGC MS-63. An attractive example."
Recorded mintage: 1,917,933.
Specification: 7.96 g, .900 fine gold, .230 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Fr-3814; KM-501.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, The January 2017 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Richard Stuart Collection, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2016.
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