5 Ducats - Aureus Magnus Adenauer, 1967

This is a privately issued medal restruck in ducat format, not a state-authorized coin — the "Aureus Magnus" series was produced by commercial minting houses capitalizing on West Germany's postwar rehabilitation and the appetite for gold in a country that had lived through two currency collapses in thirty years. Adenauer died in April 1967, the same year this piece was struck, and commemorative issues flooded the market almost immediately.

No legal tender status was ever assigned. Collector demand drove the series, not monetary policy.