Drusus Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 STADT THALE (GERMAN) 2 MARK 1921 L- 520 City of Thale im Harz (Saxony-Anhalt) Aluminum 2 Mark Coin Depicting a Cat Playing with a Crown This was minted for the town of Thale in the district of Harz. located in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The coin was minted by L. Christian Lauer of Nuernberg (Nürnberg), one of the many private minting companies involved in striking notgeld coins at this time. Lauer is a family who had been engaged in minting for generation, best known for minting Jetons and toy coins. Later they became prolific producers of wertmarken, mostly generic tokens to be used by businesses. On the obverse this coin depicts a cat and a crown on an oak branch, surrounded by oak leaves and acorns. Close to the edge it is signed L. CHR LAUER NUERNBERG. The reverse continues the oak leaf and acorn theme, with a large 2 and the city and district name below. Anyone have any further info for this coin...for instance what if any is the significance of the cat and crown? Any fourther info would be welcome. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabbs Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Hmm, just a guess here. Thale is near the Brocken (highest mountain in the Harz), and that is known to be a place where, in the night before 1 May, witches gather and dance. See Hexentanzplatz http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexentanzplatz_(Harz) The evil witch Watelinde once turned into a cat to lure Hilda, an innocent virgin from Thale. But before she could get control over the girl, Hilda made the sign of the cross, and a storm came up and smashed Watelinde against a rock. http://www.strassberg-harz.de/abisz/sagen.htm The crown could refer to the Rosstrappe http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosstrappe , also near Thale. The story goes (see that same strassberg-harz.de link) that once upon a time some mean guy wanted to marry a king's daughter. Now she objected, and fled on a horse. He was behind her, and when she got to some kind of canyon, her horse would cross it. She accidentally dropped and lost her crown but reached the other side safe and sound. The guy however fell and died in the river on the ground, about 400 meters further down. He still sits in that river somewhere, holding the crown of the woman he could not get ... Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drusus Posted May 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 better a guess than I could come up with although I did read on the website for the city a bunch of stuff about witchcraft so I thought the cat might referemce that somehow. I have done quite a search for cats, crowns, germany and thale harz with no real luck...in English. I will leave it that it might be referencing 2 local tales, the ones you mention...and if any further info arises I can update. Some times you have to get local input. Like the time I thought Michel was referring to Operation Michael in WWI and you mention the generally accepted meaning of the name Michel (personification of the average German). No searches came up with this info. BTW... Very cool...odd...I saw a lot of interesting sculptures in germany Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Good stories, but an even better token. A really great design! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Perhaps the cat symbolizes the Allies and their attempt to bring the Kaiser (symbolized by the crown) to trial as a war criminal, the threat of which had ended by 1921 with Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands refusal to hand him over to the Allies. As to the Oak tree, the Kaiser had given a speech where he stated his God-given task was to ensure that the German oak tree, die deutsche reichseiche, continue to flourish (meaning the German people). Love the pic of the statue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabbs Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Don't know whether the design was supposed to be a political allusion. May well be so; on the other hand quite a few notgeld pieces (particularly notes) refer to local people and history. Now the oak leaves certainly refer to Germany; they can be found on many coins from the German Empire, the Federal Republic and even the now defunct GDR (aka East G.). Oh, and Drusus, that sculpture is strange indeed. Maybe not pretty but certainly attention grabbing ... Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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