Coin Set of the Imperial Era under Wilhelm II. (1890-1918)
- Genuine Originals: six circulation coins
- Two Silver Coins: made of 900 silver
- Splendid Designs: large Reichsadler
- Genuine OriginalsReal currency once passed from hand to hand
- Two Silver Coins½ Mark and 1 Mark combine collector value and precious metal
- Splendid DesignsThe 1 Mark also bears a fine oak leaf wreath
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Originals from the German Empire · Wilhelm II
What a mark had to bear
Imperial coin set, Wilhelm II, a piece of the set
Value, year, imperial eagle and a letter for the mint: all of this was laid down by law. The set brings together six coins from 1 pfennig to 1 mark on one card.
What the law prescribes
Value, year, eagle and a letter
For the mark and the smaller coins, the coinage act of 1873 laid down what they bear:
“bear on one side the statement of value, the year and the inscription ‘Deutsches Reich’, on the other side the imperial eagle and the mint mark”
The coins from 1 mark down to 1 pfennig were the same throughout the Reich.
DeutschesThe word DEUTSCHES, on the left in the arc
ValueThe value in the oak wreath
YearThe year of striking
Before the mark
By law: a sixth of a thaler, half a mark
The coinage act of 1873 had silver coins of German stamp worth a sixth of a thaler accepted as half a mark, and those worth a third of a thaler as one mark.
The mint mark
A letter tells where it was struck
The mark and the smaller coins also bear a mint mark: a letter that names the mint. A stands for Berlin, J for Hamburg, F for Stuttgart.
“Below, the mint mark J for Hamburg.”
The photo of the mark in the set shows a J. As the sets come from different years, your mark may bear another letter.
The gold of the mark
The gold of the German Empire
Twenty and ten marks in gold, 900/1,000: a twenty-mark piece weighs 7.96 grams, of which 7.17 grams is fine gold.
The mark in silver
The silver mark in the hand
For silver coins, the coinage act of 1873 prescribed pieces of five, two and one mark, and of fifty and twenty pfennig. One pound of fine silver was to yield 100 one-mark pieces, so a mark holds 5 grams of fine silver.
“No one is obliged to accept imperial silver coins in amounts of more than twenty marks …”
Meaning: no one had to accept silver coins for amounts over 20 marks.
In the law the half mark is called the fifty-pfennig piece: 400 pieces from one kilogram of fine silver, so 2.5 grams of silver per piece.
The three-mark piece exists since a law of 1908. It took the place of the Vereinsthaler, prohibited since 1907, and holds 15 grams of fine silver.
Rentenmark and Reichsmark
The Reichsmark from 1924
The coinage act of 30 August 1924 introduced the Reichsmark; in October 1924 it came into circulation alongside the Rentenmark, one to one.
Our strikes
What our strikes take up
Our strikes bear the lettering 1 Reichsmark or 1 Mark in an oak wreath. They are newly struck, no Reichsmark of the past and no legal tender of the Reich.
At a glance
- Type
- Set of originals
- Era
- German Empire
- Ruler
- Wilhelm II
- Number of pieces
- 6 pieces
- Contents
- 1 mark, 1/2 mark, 10, 5, 2 and 1 pfennig
- Packaging
- Blister card
Details from our product data, the coinage acts and the photo. The year and mint mark of your piece may differ from the photo.
Original and new strike
On the left a mark from the German Empire, on the right our strike of 1/200 ounce of fine gold, which takes up DEUTSCHES REICH and 1 MARK in an oak wreath.
One was money throughout the Reich, the other is newly struck: two pieces, one image.
Imperial Era Coin Set from the Reign of Wilhelm II – Six Originals from the German Empire
Those seeking a tangible piece of German history will find it in this coin set from the era of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1890–1918). Six original circulation coins of the German Empire, carefully assembled and presented in a high-quality blister card – no recast, no replica, but genuine currency that once passed from hand to hand. That is precisely what makes these pieces so special: they accompanied the everyday lives of people in Germany during the Imperial era.
What the Set Contains
The coin set brings together the classic small denominations from the Pfennig to the Mark. Four denominations are struck in base metals, while two values are minted in genuine silver:
1 Pfennig – Copper
2 Pfennig – Copper
5 Pfennig – Copper-Nickel
10 Pfennig – Copper-Nickel
½ Mark – 900 fine silver
1 Mark – 900 fine silver
The total weight of the set is approximately 53 g. The years of mintage fall within the reign of Wilhelm II and vary from coin to coin, as does the condition – making each set a small unique piece.
Designs: Denomination and Imperial Eagle
The design follows the uniform Imperial coinage system that applied throughout the entire German Empire. The obverse of the coins bears the denomination, while the reverse displays the Imperial Eagle. From 1890 onwards, the eagle was struck in the larger, more magnificent version (the "Great Eagle"). The 1 Mark coin frames its face value with a delicate oak leaf wreath – a symbol of German coin artistry of this era. The small coins were minted across the Empire at several mints, from Berlin and Prussia to Hamburg, yet apart from the mint mark, they all bore a uniform design.
History You Can Touch
With the founding of the Empire in 1871, a unified currency of "Mark and Pfennig" was established for the first time, ending decades of confusion caused by the Thaler and Gulden systems in Germany. The small coins were the currency of everyday life – workers, merchants, and families used them to pay for their daily purchases. Whoever holds these coins from the era of Kaiser Wilhelm II in their hands can feel the atmosphere of an epoch situated between industrial boom, the Imperial era, and the eve of the First World War.
For Collectors and Investors
This set is primarily a collector's item with historical and numismatic appeal. Original circulation coins of the German Empire are finite – no new ones will ever be minted, which makes historical pieces increasingly sought after over the long term. The two silver coins in particular combine collector's value with the enduring intrinsic value of the precious metal. Gold and silver have always been regarded as reliable tangible assets that have enjoyed trust across generations and proven themselves as preservers of value.
An ideal entry point into the world of historical German coins – compact, representative, and with a genuine silver content.
Whether as a gift, as the foundation of a collection, or as a tangible memento of the German Imperial era: this coin set unites history, craftsmanship, and collector's joy in an attractive presentation. Secure six genuine historical witnesses from the final decades of the German Empire.
Product depiction may differ from the final product.
