As legends grow in stature they become mythologies. Many legends and myths have come to inspire coin design. We hope you enjoy this Pendant and Ring Series and all the coins we can explore together! Subscribe now to enjoy the whole series!
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and the 2000-year anniversary coin.
This legendary and official historic event took place on an eight-mile-long road that wound through the Teutoburg forest, in modern-day Germany. The battle lasted for four days during the Fall of 9 CE. Roman forces aimed to take the Rhine and expand the Roman empire further into the East.
Germanic leaders would hear nothing of it. Over the four days, the tribesmen used guerrilla tactics to decimate the three legions of highly trained Roman soldiers thereby protecting the Rhine and lands to the East.
Now for the Mythology. Roman philosophers, hearing of this defeat, imagined the Germanic defenders as wild supermen who inhabited the woods of the northeast. As the report of the battle traveled miles the mythological power of the tribesmen multiplied. So much so that more than 1500 years later the British hired “Hessians” (Germans) to fight during the US Revolution. But that’s another story.
Back to the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. There is a modern coin celebrating the battle. 2,500 colorized, proof coins were minted in 2009 as a 2000-year anniversary coin. The silver-plated copper coin has a face value of 1USD, and is 35mm square at 45 degrees, with a portrait of a warrior in forest battle, complete with a round shield and sword on the obverse. On the reverse, you can find the nation’s name, coat of arms, and denomination.
The coin is from Germany, but not for Germany. It is official currency in the Republic of Palau. The nation commissions Liechtenstein to make its coins, then Liechtenstein outsources the work of milling coins to B.H. Mayer’s Kunstprageanstalt GmbH, a mint in Munich, Baveria, Germany. The mint is located about 585km (about 364 miles) south of the Teutoburg forest which is in Augustdorf, Germany.
We hope you enjoyed this treasure of a coin and that you come back for more “Legends and Mythology Inspired Coinage” over the coming months.
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