5 Mark - Frederick II Silver Wedding - Pattern

Anhalt-Dessau was one of the smaller German states still exercising the right to strike commemorative issues under the imperial coinage law, and the silver wedding of Friedrich II and Marie of Baden in 1914 was precisely the sort of dynastic occasion that justified the privilege. This piece is a pattern — Schaaf 25/G2 — meaning it never advanced to an approved circulation or presentation strike, making survivors exceptionally rare even by the standards of German state commemoratives, which were already struck in limited numbers.

The timing is grimly suggestive. Submitted for approval in 1914, the outbreak of war in August almost certainly killed further production consideration outright.