10 Deutsche Mark Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

Issued to mark the centenary of Röntgen's discovery of X-rays in November 1895 — an announcement that reached the public within weeks and caused an international sensation before the year was out. German authorities were notably swift to honor him during his lifetime; Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901, though he famously donated the prize money to the University of Würzburg and refused to patent his discovery, believing it should benefit humanity without restriction.

The .625 fine silver alloy was standard for the late West German commemorative series, a composition chosen in the 1970s as silver prices climbed.