Palau has issued commemorative silver in volume since the 1990s, licensing historical and scientific subjects with little editorial restraint. This piece marks the 125th anniversary of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, widely accepted as the first true gasoline-powered automobile — Karl Benz filed the German Imperial Patent No. 37435 on January 29, 1886. The actual first public drive was undertaken not by Karl but by his wife Bertha in August 1888, who took the vehicle 104 kilometers from Mannheim to Pforzheim without her husband's knowledge to prove its commercial viability.
Palau has issued commemorative silver in volume since the 1990s, licensing historical and scientific subjects with little editorial restraint. This piece marks the 125th anniversary of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, widely accepted as the first true gasoline-powered automobile — Karl Benz filed the German Imperial Patent No. 37435 on January 29, 1886. The actual first public drive was undertaken not by Karl but by his wife Bertha in August 1888, who took the vehicle 104 kilometers from Mannheim to Pforzheim without her husband's knowledge to prove its commercial viability.