5 Mark - Louis II Pattern

Pattern coinage for Ludwig II of Bavaria was produced during the deliberative phase of German monetary unification, when individual states could still lobby for design concessions before the Imperial standard locked in. Ludwig's court had a well-documented appetite for grandiose self-presentation, and the pattern series reflects that — multiple die trials were commissioned before the final approved type was settled. The kingdom ultimately had little say in the matter; the Kaiserreich's monetary law of 1871 had already decided the architecture, leaving rulers like Ludwig to contest only the portrait.