A modern German Eagle

Modern Germany

Having visited Frankfurt, Germany recently, what I encountered in that city at least, was a modern, efficient metropolis, coexisting with ancient cobblestones and history. The public transport network was very efficient, and I must admit, I was grateful the majority of people I met spoke better English than I speak German.

Financial center

Germany is the largest economy in the European Union (EU) and the third largest in the world after the US and China. Germany regularly ranks in the top three nations for exports as well as imports. Germany’s gross domestic product totalled some 4.3 trillion euros in 2024. That year, it exported goods worth around 1,555 billion euros and imported goods worth over 1,316 billion euros.

Germany has 16 states (known as Bundesländer). This includes 13 area-states (Flächenländer) and three city-states (Stadtstaaten). The states (and capitals) are:

• Baden-Württemberg – Stuttgart
• Bavaria (Bayern) – Munich
• Berlin – Berlin (City-State)
• Brandenburg – Potsdam
• Bremen – Bremen (City-State)
• Hamburg – Hamburg (City-State)
• Hesse (Hessen) – Wiesbaden
• Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) – Hanover
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) – Schwerin
• North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) – Düsseldorf
• Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) – Mainz
• Saarland – Saarbrücken
• Saxony (Sachsen) – Dresden
• Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) – Magdeburg
• Schleswig-Holstein – Kiel
• Thuringia (Thüringen) – Erfurt

There are several cities with claims to being important financially, particularly Berlin and Frankfurt:

Berlin

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of the country in 1990, Berlin was officially reinstated as the capital of all of Germany. It is also the largest of Germany’s three city states.

As of 2026, Berlin is the most populous city in the European Union strictly within its city limits, with a population exceeding 3.8 million people. Berlin is home to a thriving modern STEM industry employing many immigrants particularly from India.

German (and other) banknotes are printed by the Bundesdruckerei in Berlin. Bundesdruckerei has been producing banknotes and security documents for more than 250 years, including the euro currency since 2000. In addition to producing banknotes, Bundesdruckerei support issuers of postage stamps with technical and process know-how. They produce all of Germany’s postage stamps on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Finance and Deutsche Post.

Frankfurt

“Frankfurt am Main” (Frankfurt on the Main River) is in Hesse state, right in the middle of Germany. This distinguishes it from Frankfurt an der Oder in Brandenburg state, one of the easternmost cities in Germany.

The city of Frankfurt is the most important financial hub in continental Europe and a key center of financial market stability. It features a unique concentration of European and national supervisory bodies, international banks, insurance companies and legal practitioners. Coin world posits that as home to the European Central Bank, one of the largest monetary institutions in the world, Frankfurt is arguably the epicenter of global currency policy.

During my visit, I stayed at the Nhow hotel in Frankfurt, which celebrates Frankfurt’s status as a financial capital through the theme and decoration on the rooms:

(Hotel room decorated with money motifs).

The Holy Roman Emperor granted Frankfurt the right to mint small coins in 1346, though permission to mint a full gamut of silver and gold coinage (and, more importantly, to keep the revenue derived therefrom) was not gained until 1555. From the start, the city’s coins were in high demand because the mint had earned a reputation for not skimping on precious metal content, another factor which attracted traders to Frankfurt.

The German National Assembly of 1848, also known as the Frankfurt Parliament, was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Held in St Paul’s Church, I briefly mentioned it in this 5 Mark coin post. I also visited the building myself:

(St Paul’s church seen with tram – Strassenbahn – and taxis in front).

It is located in the new “Altstadt” (old town) which I found very picturesque in my visit:

(The old town featuring historic looking buildings around a cobblestone square).

Mints

The Frankfurt mint closed in 1879. Coins from Prussia and early unified Germany coins can be found with the “C” mintmark of Frankfurt. Mints in Germany have used a series of alphabetical mintmarks. The current mints are:

• A: Berlin (1280 – Present)
• D: Munich (1158 – Present)
• F: Stuttgart (1378 – Present)
• G: Karlsruhe (1827 – Present)
• J: Hamburg (801 – Present)

The Stuttgart and Karlsruhe mints belong to the same company, the Staatliche Münze Baden-Württemberg (State Mint of Baden-Württemberg), while the Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg mints are independent companies. All of these current mints are in the capital cities of their states (except Karlsruhe).

The history of current German mintmarks goes back to Prussia in 1749. At the time, Prussia had seven mints: Berlin, Breslau, Cleves, Aurich, Königsberg, Magdeburg, and Stettin. Over the next decade, reforms nationalised the mints and changed the mintmarks. Instead of being the private mark of the mint director, they were given alphabetic mintmarks which would not change, from A (Berlin) – G (Stettin).

With the unification of Germany in 1871, and adoption of the German Imperial Mark, the remaining mints at the time fell into line with the Prussian mintmark system in the order they were listed in the constitution:

• A – Berlin (Kingdom of Prussia, 1st)
• B – Hanover (Province of Hanover in Prussia, 2nd)
• C – Frankfurt (Province of Frankfurt in Prussia, 3rd)
• D – Munich (Kingdom of Bavaria, 7th)
• E – Dresden until 1887, then Muldenhütten (Kingdom of Saxony, 8th)
• F – Stuttgart (Kingdom of Württemberg, 9th)
• G – Karlsruhe (Grand Duchy of Baden, 10th)
• H – Darmstadt (Grand Duchy of Hesse, 11th)
• J – Hamburg (Hanseatic City of Hamburg, 30th and last)

The letter I was not used because it could be easily confused with the letter J, and there were plans to use the letter K as a mark for Strasbourg after the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, but never materialized. The system continued even during the division of East and West Germany. It remains to this day, even though only five mints remain. There were several interesting exceptions, but do visit ColeMone to read their full article on German mintmarks.

Obverse

The obverse of the coin features the eagle, the traditional symbol of German sovereignty, is surrounded with the twelve stars of Europe.

I do like Eagles, and birds in general on coins. I do like the way the shape of the bird moulds to the round space on the coin.

This coin was issued in 2008 and features the “G” mintmark for Karlsruhe.

Reverse

The reverse features a map, next to the face value, shows the gathering of the fifteen states of the European Union

This coin features the “new” 2nd map of the EU. Coins produced prior to 2008 feature the original 15 member states of the EU. This second map reflects the 2004 enlargement to 27 countries.

How many different German mintmarks feature in your collection? Do you have any of the now out-of-use mintmarks such as C Frankfurt, or H Darmstadt?