1902 Saxony 2-mark

[villa66]

Saxony’s capital, Dresden—reported Gilson Willets in his 1899 book Rulers Of The World at Home—“is one of the handsomest cities of Europe, and for that reason is sometimes called “Florence on the Elbe.”

Here is a near-contemporary of that 1899 book, a silver 2-mark piece from the Kingdom of Saxony dated 1902 and picturing King Albert, whose full name is the somewhat lengthier “Frederick Augustus Albert Anton Ferdinand Joseph Karl Maria Baptist Nepomuk Wilhelm Xaver Georg Fidelis.”

Willets’ book gives this coin-portrait some period color: “King Albert is a handsome, white-haired and white-bearded man, with the ashen-colored complexion of the statesman. He is exceedingly democratic and may be seen almost any day while in Dresden walking or driving about the streets...He is kept busy returning the greetings of his loyal subjects, with some of whom he often stops to chat.”

White-haired, white-bearded, ashen complexion. There is no mistaking that the Albert of 1899 is an old man, in the twilight of his life, with many of his family and friends having gone before him.

Willets continues, perhaps giving us some clue of Albert’s thoughts on some of those walks and drives around the streets of Dresden: “Since the death of Emperor Frederick, [Albert’s] most intimate friend is the Emperor of Austria, whom he visits every year. He and ‘Unser Fritz’ loved one another as brothers, and no one in all Germany took the untimely death of the noble ruler more to heart than the monarch of Saxony. It is common belief in Germany that the dying Emperor imparted to him many of his fears concerning the future of his successor, Prince William.”

And again an Italian connection—Albert’s sister was the mother of Queen Margherita of Italia...

But this particular 2-mark coin—which at first glance looks like Albert’s regular issue 2-mark coins—has the two small dates under the portrait that mark it as a commemorative coin: 1828 for his birth; 1902 for his death. (Which may have had the side-effect of preserving the coin’s legal tender status for a couple of years more; regular issue 2-mark pieces were demonetized at the beginning of 1918, but commemorative 2-mark pieces remained legal tender until April 20, 1920.

Willets’ book was out-of-date by 1902, at least where King Albert of Saxony was concerned. And out-of-date for Italia too—King Umberto had been assassinated in 1900. Margherita was no longer his Queen.

But the passing of time is not always the story of unremitting loss—far from it. Margherita herself passed away many years ago, but this niece of King Albert of Saxony is still with us, in Napoli especially, but in so many other places too, as her namesake, Pizza Margherita.

v.

[KarlAntonMartini]

This is interesting news for me living in Dresden that Pizza Margherita has a saxon origin. - The nephew of King Albert should be the last King of Saxony and today members of the family are living here again (they had to leave their homes during communist period). Albert is buried in a crypt beneath Dresden Hofkirche, where he used to attend the Hl. Mass every Sunday in a special Royal Box built on the balcony beside the main altar. http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/22300162
(Now the members of the family are using the pews for the common visitors). Viele Grüße, KarlAntonMartini

[Mynter]

Hello,

thank you for an interesting article about the albert - commemoratives - and for enlightening us about the true origion of pizza margherita. Will it ever taste the same ?
This is what Max Barduleck who carved the dies wrote about them :

“ Die Ausprägung des 5 – Mark – Stückes begann am 20 . September und konnte am 11. Oktober 1902 abgeschlossen werden.
Die Ausprägung des 2 – Mark – Stückes begann am 17. Oktober und konnte am 13. November 1902 abgeschlossen werden...
… Die Ausgabe durch das Finanzministerium erfolgte am 12. Dezember. Fünf Tage später, am 17. Dezember waren die 5 – Mark – Stücke und sieben Tage später, am 19. Dezember, die 2 – Mark – Stücke vergriffen.
Die Anregung für diese Gedenkmünzen ging von Hofrat Dr. Julius Erbstein aus. Er hatte am 7. Juli 1902 die Ausprägung eines Gedenktalers vorgeschlagen. Das Finanzministerium beschloss jedoch, 5 – und 2 – Markstücke mit des Königs Lebensdaten auszugeben. Am 21. Juli wurde daraufhin die Anfertigung der Prägestempel begonnen. Die Ausprägung verzögerte sich aber, weil erst die Genehmigung des Deutschen Bundesrates eingeholt werden musste. Sie wurde am 18. September erteilt. ”

The coins seemed to be quiet popular. Schwenke in his book about german coins of 1871 - 1914 writes :
” … findet sich im am 28. Februar 1903 erschienen ersten Heft der Deutschen Reichsbankblätter folgende Notiz : Die Kgl. Sächsische Münzstätte Muldenhütten hat 100.000 Stück Fünfmarkstücke und 167625 Stück Zweimarkstücke als Sterbemünzen auf den Tod König Alberts von Sachsen geprägt. Die Münzen kosten im Handel bereits M . 10,- , bzw M 4,- ”

[villa66]

Many thanks to both KAM and Mynter for the additional information on this piece. Really appreciate the extra connections.

v.