Germany Empire Minor Coins Type Set - Deutsches Reich Kleinmuenzen

Set Description
This is a type set of the circulating coinage of the German Empire from its formation until the end of World War I. This is a great set because the minor coins are very beautiful but also uniform and regimented in their design. The coins are ordered by Jaeger number since that seems to the the more widely accepted reference. I've included the WWI issues although some collectors and catalogs distinguish between them and the rest of the German Empire coinage.

In the first year of the Empire, there were no pre-prescribed mintages for major or minor coins. Instead, the respective mints of each individual state were permitted to dictate how many coins to make monthly. As a result, the Prussian mints (A,B,C) made an excess of the Gold coins. Munich and Karlsruhe mints made an excess of the 20 Pfennig coins since they could directly replace existing 6 Kreuzer coins. The Stuttgart mint made an excess of 1 Mark and 10 Pfennig coins at that time. After 1875, fixed mintage numbers for denominations of 1 Mark or less were established on a larger scale. The individual states were still permitted to schedule minting of coins greater than 1 Mark based on their individual needs.

While not directly related, the name Mark had been used previously in German monetary systems. It has referred to the Cologne Mark (233.855 g), which existed as a standard measure of weight for monetary systems in Scandinavia and other German entities. In some northern Germany sovereignties the Mark was equivalent to 16 Shillings.
On April 12, 1871 the Mark was established as the standard unit of currency for the German Empire. The Mark valued such that 139.5 10 Mark gold coins would make 500g (1 Pound pure) of gold. Since a pure gold coin system wasn’t entirely practical, Talers and other silver coinage were permitted to be used in amounts up to 20 Mark. And the silver Taler was declared to be worth 3 Mark.
The introduction of the Mark put an end to the monetary chaos that existed in Germany up to that point. This put an end to the seven main types of monetary systems in place in the region (not counting many other minor variations):

1. 30 Thalers to a Pound (500g) – 30 Groschen to a Thaler – 12 Pfennig to a Groschen – in Prussia and other nearby German States.
2. 30 Thalers to a Pound (500g) – 30 Groschen to a Thaler – 10 Pfennig to a Groshcen –in Saxony, Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Gotha
3. 30 Thalers to a Pound (500g) – 48 Schilling to a Thaler – 12 Pfennig to a Schilling – in Mecklenburg.
4. 30 Thalers to a Pound (500g) – 2.5 Marks Courant or 40 Schilling to a Thaler – 12 Pfennig to a Schilling – in Hamburg and Luebeck.
5. 52.5 Gulden to a Pound (500g) – 60 Kreuzer to a Gulden – in the southern German States.
6. 5 Taler Gold Piece/Louis D’Or – 72 Grote to 5 Taler – 5 Schwaren to Grote – in Bremen
7. The French Franc – in Alsace-Lorraine

For a period of time, coins from these various systems were treated as official currency at the fixed exchange rates. At the monetary convention in Vienna and Dreseden in 1876, six of these monetary systems were officially dissolved. In 1876, the first 2 Mark coins were made to make up for the removal of German States silver coins from the system. The last Taler coins made prior to the formation of the German Empire were valid until 1907. It was at that time they were removed from circulation and the government started minting 3 Mark coins to replace them.

Set Goals
This is a type set of the circulating minor coinage of the German Empire from its formation until the end of World War I.