2 Marks - Louis III

Louis III was the last King of Bavaria, and this two-mark piece was struck in the final months before the outbreak of the First World War effectively ended normal German silver coinage production. Bavaria retained the right to issue its own coinage within the German Empire under the 1871 constitution, a privilege the Wittelsbachs exercised until the November Revolution of 1918 forced Ludwig's abdication — ending over seven centuries of dynastic rule in a single night.

Mintage for this date was modest, and most pieces entered circulation almost immediately given wartime metal pressures.