After looking at large silver coins yesterday, we're going to look at some of the smallest gold coins in my collection: the 20 Mark and 5 Ruble coins. Even though separated by thousands of kilometers, they both have a few similarities. First, they are both made of 900 gold. Second, they were minted at the dawn of the 20th century. Third and lastly: they are the last of their kind.
Both coins, still in the claws of my dragon.
After some convincing, I got them from the claws of my mighty dragon Elly, and we can take a closer look at them.
20 Mark Kingdom Württemberg 1900
After the inception of the German Empire in the year 1871, the so-called Reichsmünzgesetz (Imperial coin/mint law) lead to the minting of Pfennig and Mark. With 100 Pfennig contained in 1 Mark. Each coin from 1 Pfennig to 1 Mark had a standardized ob- and reverse. Coins from 3 to 20 only had a standardized obverse; each German state decided the reverse.
The 20 Mark coin of the Kingdom Württemberg features the last King of Württemberg, Wilhelm II. on the reverse. Not to be confused with Wilhelm II. of Prussia , the last German Emperor. The F on the reverse denotes the Mint. For Württemberg there are two Mints, G for Karlsruhe and F for Stuttgart, the capital.
The 10 and 20 Mark gold coins were only minted in the capital of Württemberg, with 1900 being one of the more common dates. The mintage of this year reached 500,000.00 coins. Each of those coins contains 7.168 grams of gold, almost a quarter ounce. The diameter is 22.50 mm (0.855 inches), making it a fairly small coin. On the edge of the coin is written "GOTT MIT UNS," which translated to "GOD (IS) WITH US."
Closer look at Wilhelm II. and the Reichsadler.
The obverse features the year and the Reichsadler, the imperial eagle of Germany with the German imperial crown on top. The writing "Deutsches Reich" translates to "German Empire". Both re- and obverse show some stunning detail, especially in the hair and the state symbols on the back. Even the pupils are visible, and that after years of circulation.
Russian 5 Ruble 1904
After visiting imperial Germany we hop just four years into the future, but thousands of kilometers further east, right into imperial Russia.
During this time the last Russian Tsar Nikolaus A. Romanow still reigned, but the Bolsheviks grew more and more powerful. In this troubled time, this coin was minted.
Nikolaus II. is featured on the reverse along with name and title.
Obverse
The coin contained just 3.87 grams of gold and had a tiny size of only 18.5 mm. Minted in Sankt Petersburg, the coin reached a mintage of 2 million coins. The obverse features the double-headed eagle of Russia. Inside the eagle is Saint George mounted and fighting a dragon. Around this depiction are the coats of arms of all the nations conquered by Russia. E.g., the Khanate of Siberia or the Kingdom of Poland.
Closeup of Nikolaus II. and the double eagle.
The 5 Ruble coin shows still a lot of detail. In my opinion, especially the small coats of arms are very detailed and look very impressive. Nikolaus II. is not as precise when compared to Wilhelm II., but the rendition of his portrait is still beautiful.
This concludes our look at those two coins. With each of them minted in the last decade of their era, they are an exciting piece of history in my opinion. What do you think? Which are your favorite historical coins?