The third German collector coin to be issued in 2008 will honor the physicist Max Planck. He was born in Kiel, SH in 1858 - thus 150 years ago by the time the coin comes out - and died in Göttingen, NI in 1947. Planck was a professor in Kiel and Berlin, and is considered to be one of the "fathers of quantum mechanics". And in case you have no idea what the Black Body Radiation Law is (like me), you could have asked Planck who developed it ...



Design Competition - Overview
The coin will be made in Stuttgart (mintmark F). The edge inscription is "Dem Anwenden muss das Erkennen vorausgehen". That Planck quote means, according to the Max Planck Society, "Insight must precede application".
http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_005/nn_21470/DE.../MaxPlanck.html

Winning Design: Michael Otto
The winning design, depicted above, shows a portrait of Max Planck next to his radiation law (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_law).
http://www.bbr.bund.de/DE/WettbewerbeAussc...rty=default.jpg

Second Prize: Marek Lipowski
This design visualizes that law, with the E=hv formula in the middle. The eagle design is inspired by the curves on the other side.
http://www.bbr.bund.de/DE/WettbewerbeAussc...rty=default.jpg

Third Prize: Lucia Maria Hardegen
Hardegen combines a portrait and a small depiction of the curves. The jury said, however, that the Planck portrait is not that characteristic.
http://www.bbr.bund.de/DE/WettbewerbeAussc...rty=default.jpg

Fourth Prize: Karl Wunderlich
Wunderlich depicts the black body radiation. According to the jury, the design is innovative but the relation to Planck is not really recognizable.
http://www.bbr.bund.de/DE/WettbewerbeAussc...rty=default.jpg

Side note - in the list of collector coins to be issued in 2008 (see http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?showtopic=10131) I already mentioned that Max Planck was also honored on two earlier German coins:

* Federal Republic 2 DM (minted 1957-1971)
That was the regular 2 mark circulation coin between 1958 and 1973.
http://www.reppa.de/images/JA_img/big/av/5392157239.gif
http://www.reppa.de/images/JA_img/big/rv/5392157239.gif

* GDR 5 M (Planck born 125 years ago)
The GDR (East Germany) issued that collector coin in 1983.
http://www.muenzenladen.de/nvCOM/images/ddr/5mark/8109.jpg

Christian

I remember a family member of mine always admiring how Germany at least honored people that really contributed to learning by putting their portraits on coinage or banknotes. Actually I like the winning design too.

I like the idea for the reverse on the second prize. I kinda like all the coins presented. Each has something interesting. Böhme, who was the head of the jury, was the person who designed the Bamberg golden 100 Euro coin in 2004.

Ahh... the coolest name for a yet-to-be-formed-band I've ever heard: Ultraviolet Catastrophe.

That's basically the phenomenon that changed physics and the world as we know it. Thanks to Planck for mastering that. If it weren't for him we may not be typing on these nice computers.