LGZA: Gold Coin of the German Empire - Ring with 5 Mark Gold Coin of the German Empire, vintage

A 5 Mark gold coin forms the head of this gold ring. The face of the coin features a head portrait of Prussian King Wilhelm I, while the imperial eagle with nominal, year of issue 1887 and the inscription "DEUTSCHES REICH" adorns the reverse.<br> The 5 Mark Imperial gold coins were minted and issued only in 1877 and 1878, as the coins turned out to be too small and unhandy in practice. The 5 Mark gold coins were consequently discontinued in 1900.<br> However, we can safely assume that the present coin is a fake, because 5 Mark coin with the year 1887 did not exist in the original! <br> Probably this coin came from the company of the Bonn ophthalmologist Dr. med. Karl-Heinz Schmidt in cooperation with his sister Ilona Hausmann. Between 1959 and 1962, numerous replicas of all German 5-Mark gold coin types were produced in the Schmidt-Hausmann counterfeiting workshop. Since the counterfeits are of high quality, some of them are even distributed through banks. It is estimated that 90% of all 5 Mark gold coins in circulation today are counterfeits. Sometimes counterfeits were produced with year numbers that were never minted in the original, like this coin. Collectors today consider this as a curiosity. <br> This gold coin ring not only tells one, even several interesting stories, also offers the perfect finger coverage and will be a cool (pinky) ring for slim fingers.