Continuing List To Show Everyones Latest Acquisitions

Cyprus 1976 50 Mils

Cyprus 1982 5 Mils

Thank you, jbuck and hokiefan.

great additions Skunk, Gary, Kairu (very nice ½ Dol) and Bryan!

Thank you Errers, GLB, Dearborn and hokiefan very much appreciated.

Great sov GLB. Nice additions to the stable Bryan.

I continue my journey into the events that were a prelude to the Great War with a 1911 silver 5 mark coin struck in the Bavarian mintcommemorating Crown Prince Luitpold of Bavaria for his 90'th Birthday. Luitpold was an interesting historical character and a main driver behind the creation of the German Empire with Wilhem l as Emperor.


Bavaria commemorated the 90th birthday of Prince Regent Luitpold with this silver 1911 5 Mark coin. . The bust of Luitpold is on the obverse and the standard crowned German Imperial Eagle is on the reverse. The 38mm coin is struck in .900 fine silver contains .8037 troy ounces of silver and has a lettered edge "GOTT MIT UNS" (God with us).
Luitpold was the regent for Bavarian King Otto. King Otto who was the younger brother of "The Mad" King Ludwig II. On June 10, 1886 the Bavarian cabinet declared Ludwig unable to rule and appointed his uncle Luitpold as Regent. Three days later Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances and Otto became king. King Otto was never able to rule as he was immediately declared "melancholic" and Luitpold continued as regent. It is unclear if Otto's problem was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his service in the Franco-Prussian War, the ravages of Syphilis, an inherited disorder or if Luitpold and others just wanted him out of the way. The King was kept locked up and there was no apparent effort to treat him. In 1912 Luitpold died and his son succeeded him as regent.


Prior to WW1 Europe was a hodge podge of Monarchies whose royalty held great sway in foreign affairs on a case by case basis. This factor was in large part a reason the war started with jealousy's and competitions between the royal houses, many of them connected by blood, boiling over into warfare. None of them expected a long war and many royal houses didn't survive the disastrous conflict that claimed upwards of 20 million lives as an entire generation of young Europeans and Americans died in the ensuing slaughter or the terrible Influenza sickness that followed it.

I intend to pay more attention to WW1 and the events that preceded it thru my coinage and currency collecting this summer. Heres what the Royal Houses looked like prior to the war. The German Empire alone consisted of 27 individual states most of whom were ruled by Royal Familys. This Empire fell after the defeat and the Weimar Republic was born. The bitterness caused by the loss of territory from the Treaty of Versailles in large part played a large role in allowing the Nazi Party to seize power and crush civil liberty's and Democracy in Germany.

Very interesting example, ANAcoincollector.