5 Deutsche Mark Albrecht Dürer

Issued to mark the 500th anniversary of Dürer's birth, this was one of a long run of West German commemorative five-mark pieces that began in 1952 and became the primary vehicle through which the Federal Republic acknowledged cultural and historical figures during the postwar decades. The .625 silver standard used throughout this series was a deliberate compromise — fine enough to carry symbolic weight, debased enough to keep bullion costs manageable for high-mintage commemoratives.

Dürer died in Nuremberg in 1528, reportedly weakened by a malarial illness contracted during his trip to the Netherlands to witness — and sketch — the beached whale at Zerikzee in 1520.