10 Old German Mark Banknote Gold Minted Bar (Mintage: 1,000 | Old Design | Proof)
- Pure Fine Gold: Fineness 999.9/1,000
- Gold Investment: in small steps
- Bar and Coin: Face value 25 dollars
- Pure Fine GoldInvestment gold, its value tied to the gold price
- Gold InvestmentBuild wealth piece by piece with 1/200 oz fine gold
- Bar and CoinLegal tender of the Republic of Liberia
Price alert set
share
First Bundesbank series, 10 marks
Portrait of a young man,around 1500.
A 1/200 ounce gold bar by Kettner Edelmetalle, just 15 × 8.5 millimetres in size, showing the design of the 10 DM note from the Bundesbank’s first series.
Image greatly enlarged. The bar measures 15 × 8.5 millimetres.
Image of the front of the bar with the design of the 10 DM note: Portrait of a young man
The face of the note
A painter no one knows for certain
The portrait shows the “Portrait of a Young Man”, painted around 1500. Who painted it is uncertain: in 1964 the Bundesbank named Albrecht Dürer or Neupauer, in 1986 it said the painter was unknown. Today the Cranach Digital Archive lists the picture, with a question mark, as a work by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The back shows a fully rigged sailing ship with billowing sails, in the style of the Gorch Fock.
For its first series, the Bundesbank deliberately chose heads from old, recognised paintings. The names of painter and sitter do not appear on the notes, because some were unknown or uncertain.
The young man
The numeral 10
The sailing ship
The series
Seven notes after old paintings
On 10 February 1961 the Bundesbank issued the first note of its first series, the 20 DM note. By 26 April 1965 the others had followed, last of all the 500 DM note. There were seven values from 5 to 1000 marks; a 200 DM note only came with the last series.
It was designed by Hermann Eidenbenz, chosen after a competition with 140 preliminary designs. The notes were printed by the Bundesdruckerei in Berlin and by Giesecke & Devrient in Munich. Each value was 5 millimetres higher and 10 millimetres longer than the next smaller one.
They remained valid until they were called in on 30 June 1995. Some things lived on in the last series: the colours of the values, the large portraits looking towards the centre and the word “Banknote” in Fraktur, which most notes of the first series already bore.
5 DM note1963
10 DM note1963
20 DM note1961
50 DM note1962
100 DM note1962
500 DM note1965
1000 DM note1964
The small format
The design of a note on 15 millimetres of gold
The 10 DM note measured 130 × 65 millimetres. The bar carries its design on a surface narrower than a 1-cent coin.
The paper note was work on the smallest scale. Egon Falz, Hans-Joachim Fuchs and José Lopez engraved the portrait and motif of each note by hand in steel, over months. In intaglio printing, the design stood raised on the paper like a relief.
The bar’s finish is proof. The image shows it in a capsule on a black card with DEUTSCHE MARK, 1/200 OZ and 9999 FINE GOLD.
At a glance
- Motif
- 10 DM note, Portrait of a young man
- The Bundesbank’s first series
- Maker
- Kettner Edelmetalle
- Face value
- 25 Dollars
- Liberia
- Weight
- 1/200 ounce
- Fine weight
- 0.16 g
- Fineness
- 999.9/1,000
- Dimensions
- 15.00 × 8.50 mm
- Finish
- Proof
- Mintage
- 1,000 pieces
- Packaging
- Coin capsule
All details except the design as stated in our product specifications. The bars are products of Kettner Edelmetalle, not an issue of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
Faces from old paintings, from 1961 to 1995.
The young man on 1/200 ounce of gold.
10 Deutsche Mark Banknote as a Gold Minted Bar – A Piece of Monetary History in Pure Fine Gold
- Strictly limited: Limited worldwide to a mintage of just 1,000 pieces – a truly very low mintage.
- Growth opportunities: High appreciation potential due to the strict limitation and the sustained high demand for DM designs.
- Rarity: A sought-after collector's coin with genuine rarity value.
- Minting quality: The highest possible minting quality "Proof" (PP) with mirror-like fields and finely matted reliefs.
- Investment goal: With a gold bar, you effectively protect your wealth against inflation.
- Value preservation: A compact store of value that secures the real value of your wealth and preserves it across generations.
- Hedge: A proven anchor, especially in times of inflation, recession and high government debt.
- Design: A faithful reproduction of the legendary 10-DM banknote – obverse featuring the "Portrait of a Young Man", reverse featuring the sail training ship Gorch Fock.
- Manufacturer: Exclusive minting by Kettner Edelmetalle.
- Country of origin: Issued as legal tender of the Republic of Liberia with a face value of 25 dollars.
Hardly any banknote accompanied the people of Germany for as long as the old ten. This minted bar casts this piece of monetary history in pure gold – and that is exactly where its true value lies. At its core, you are acquiring 1/200 oz of fine gold with a fineness of 999.9/1,000, whose value is directly linked to the gold price. The design is the personal touch, while the fine gold is the actual substance.
Bar and Coin in One – The Minted Bar Explained
At first glance, the rectangular piece looks like a classic bar: compact, shimmering with a warm golden hue, with cleanly rounded corners and dimensions of 15.00 x 8.50 mm. However, due to the embossed face value of 25 dollars, it holds the status of a coin and is official legal tender in its country of issue, Liberia. This is exactly what makes the difference: a minted bar bears a coin stamp and a face value – it is therefore both a bar and a gold coin, combining the best of both worlds.
Strict Limitation: Only 1,000 Pieces Worldwide
The true appeal of this edition lies in its rarity. With a mintage of only 1,000 pieces, this minted bar is among the exceptionally scarce mintings – a genuine rarity, significantly rarer than comparable DM editions with five-digit mintages. This strict limitation, combined with the simultaneously high demand, creates a noticeable appreciation potential. Anyone who secures such a limited minting early benefits from the natural scarcity that a low limitation brings about over the years.
Highest Minting Quality and Iconic Design
Minted in Proof quality, the minted bar displays deep mirror-polished fields and finely matted motifs – the most demanding minting technique of all, usually produced only in small quantities. The obverse reproduces the "Portrait of a Young Man", long attributed to Albrecht Dürer and, according to more recent research, now attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder. The reverse features the sail training ship Gorch Fock, which adorned the reverse of the 10-DM banknote for decades and symbolized German openness to the world and maritime tradition. A design full of memories – rendered in pure fine gold.
Investment Gold That Protects Your Wealth
Gold is the oldest currency in the world and has been a proven store of value for over 6,000 years, never having had a value of zero. As an inflation hedge, physical gold preserves purchasing power when paper currencies lose value, while also serving as a reliable crisis protection in politically and economically uncertain times. The fine denomination of 1/200 ounce makes entering physical gold investment particularly easy: even with manageable amounts, you build up a genuine tangible asset that is highly liquid and can be resold at any time. After a holding period of one year, profits from the sale of gold are generally tax-free.
A piece of German monetary history, struck into the most enduring substance in the world – pure fine gold, whose value is tied to the gold price.
And if you wish to pass on something lasting for a special occasion such as a birth, christening or Christmas, give the gift of genuine investment gold with this minted bar instead of transient items. The edition is delivered in a protective coin capsule and, with Kettner Edelmetalle, shipped as insured value shipping directly to your home.
Product depiction may differ from the final product.
