5 Deutsche Mark Pattern

In 1951, the newly established Federal Republic was still finding its monetary footing after the 1948 currency reform that replaced the Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark. Several pattern compositions were tested for the 5 Mark denomination before silver was selected for the circulating issue. This copper trial piece was never approved for production — the weight and alloy were rejected in favor of .625 fine silver, which carried more public confidence in a population still scarred by the inflation and currency collapses of the preceding decades.

Copper patterns from this deliberation are extremely rare and exist in very small numbers, most traceable to the Hamburg Mint archives.