(sold for $5.0)

1895, Austria. Brass "Jacob Rothberger" Jewish-Interest Medal / Store Card Token. R!

Mint Place: Vienna Mint Year: ca. 1895  Condition: Minor deposits, otherwise AU-UNC! Reference: Heisler (Marken Oesterreichs) page 203, No. 8. Denomination: Store Card Token / Jetton - Jacob Rothberger (official purveyor of the Austrian K & K Empire) Diameter: 24mm  Material: Brass Weight: 5.4gm

Obverse: Corner façade of the Rothberger department store in Vienna. Legend: FRANC.IOS.I.D.G.AVSTRIAE IMPERATOR

Reverse: Inscription in three lines Legend: KLEIDERMAGAZIN K u K HOFLIEFERANT.   JACOB / ROTHBERGER / WIEN

Jacob Rothberger was a jewish purveyor of clothing and official supplier of the Austrian Empire (K.u. K. Hoflieferant) since 1870. The obverse of his store-card advertisement token shows his department store located at the corner of Stephansplatz No. 8 in Vienna, which was opened during 1885.

The Stephansplatz is a square at the geographical centre of Vienna. It is named after its most prominent building, the Stephansdom, Vienna's cathedral and one of the tallest churches in the world. Before the 20th century, a row of houses separated Stephansplatz from Stock-im-Eisen-Platz, but since their destruction, the name Stephansplatz started to be used for the wider area covering both. To the west and south, respectively, run the exclusive shopping streets Graben(literally "ditch") and Kärntner Straße ("Kärnten" is the German for Carinthia). Opposite the Stephansdom is the Haas-Haus, a piece of striking modern architecture by Hans Hollein. Although public opinion was originally skeptical about the combination of the mediaeval cathedral and the glass and steel building, it is now considered an example of how old and new architecture can mix harmoniously .