Owner Comments:
Purchased on 7/15/2012.
Jaeger 132, Thun 351, Kahnt 473, Krause-Mishler 1230
Mintage: 45,000 pieces
With only 70 pieces total graded by either PCGS (29) or NGC (41), this coin is surprisingly difficult to find. After an 18 month hunt, and passing on two other MS62 examples, I purchased this nice MS63 example. Even raw AU pieces regularly bring well over $120, with graded low-end (61-63) MS original pieces around the $300 mark. Krause gives a book value of $175 for the coin in MS60, with no value listed for MS63. The highest graded examples are 1 NGC and 2 PCGS MS67 examples, neither of which I have ever seen up for auction.
The beauty of the reverse design speaks for itself, with a masked winged rider on horseback wielding a unified German flag in the right hand, and an olive branch in the other. This coin is one of several designs issued in 1871 to commemorate the victory of Prussia and its German States allies in the 1870 war against France. This war led to the unification of Germany under King Wilhelm of Prussia, and the end of the Second Empire in France.