5 Mark    (sold for $50.0)

1903, Hamburg (Free Hanseatic City). Large Silver 5 Mark Coin. aXF!

Mint Date: 1903 Reference: KM-610. Mint Place: Hamburg (J) Denomination: Silver 5 Mark Condition: A small edge bump at 10 o'clock (reverse), otherwise a nicely toned about XF! Weight: 27,61gm Diameter: 38mm Material: Silver

Obverse: Shield of Hamburg (two stars above cross-topped castle with three towers), supported by lions and adorned with a plummed helmet. Legend: FREIE UND HANSESTADT HAMBURG / J Reverse: Crown of the German Empire above heraldic eagle with small Prussian shield at chest within star order. Legend: DEUTSCHES REICH 1903 * FÜNF MARK *

Hamburg, officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg), is the second largest city in Germany and the thirteenth largest German state. Its population is over 1.8 million people, and the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 5 million inhabitants. The port of Hamburg, on the river Elbe, is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and tenth largest worldwide.

The official name reflects its history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, a city-state, and one of the 16 states of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, it was a fully sovereign state. Prior to the constitutional changes in 1919, the stringent civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten.

Hamburg is a major transport hub and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of the world's second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank.