German ½ mark coin (Gold mark)

½ mark
Coin from 1908
General information
Country	German Empire
Value	0.50 mark
Years	1875?–1914 (see here)
Measurements and composition
Mass	2.77 g
Diameter	20 mm
Composition	2.5 g silver
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The ½ mark coin or 50 pfennig coin was a coin issued by the German Empire from 1875 to 1914. It equalled 50 pfennige or 0.50 mark.

The coin was composed of 2.5 grams silver, and weighed roughly 2.77 grams in total. After 1914, the coin was replaced by the ½ mark coin of Papiermark. It had a diameter of about 20 mm. The obverse of the coin did not have a very distinguished design, just noting that it was a coin of the Deutsches Reich (German Empire), the year it was minted, and either a "½ mark" or "50 pfennig". The reverse, however, had a more distinguishable design, the Reichsadler of the German Empire. It was called the 50 pfennig coin during the late 19th century until the new name, the ½ mark, became used by the German Empire. This name was used up until 1919 by the papiermark, when the last silver coins were issued, when it regained its name, "50 pfennig".

Gallery

50 pfennig from 1876.