Penny Hamburg Silver

1717, Hamburg (Free Imperial City). Silver “Peter Lutkens” Mayor’s Penny Medal.

Mint Year: 1717

Mint Place: Hamburg

Reference: Gaedechens 1754.

Denomination: Mayor´s Penny Medal - Issued on the Death of Peter Lutkens, Mayor of Hamburg 1676-1717.

Material: Silver (.375)

Diameter:  28mm

Weight: 6.94gm

Obverse: Cupid, holding a torch floating above city-view of Hamburg.

Legend: IN. SERVIENDO EXTINGUITUR. .

Reverse: Heraldic coat-of-arms of the Mayor, surrounded by double band of legends.

Legend: PETRUS LUETKENS LT: NAT: 1636.2 JUNY: SEN: 1678.16. AUG.* CONS: 1 DECEMB: 1687. DENAT: 1717. 28 AUGUST..

Peter Lütkens (born July 2, 1636 in Hamburg; † August 28, 1717 there) was a Hamburg lawyer, diplomat, councilor and mayor. After being mayor for almost 30 years and the oldest mayor for 13 years, Lütkens died at the age of 81 on August 28, 1717 and was buried on September 6, 1717. A mayor’s penny was minted on his death.

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.