Click to enlarge photographs

1883. Obverse: Dr. Martin Luther. Born 1483; Died 1546. Reverse: For the remembrance of the 400th anniversary of the celebration of Luther. Archangel Michael stands on the dragon Lucifer. Weight 8.0 gr; Height 30.55 mm; Width 30.54 mm. Brozatus similar to #51; Whiting 762

Obverse: For the celebration of the 400th birthday of Luther in the American Lutheran Church. Martin Luther. Born November 10, 1483.
Reverse: Now you roast a goose (Hus), but after 100 years comes a swan that you will leave unroasted. Design by R. Laubenheimer in St. Louis. Weight 28.9 gr; Height 42.83 mm; Width 42.89 mm. Zak 303.

 

 

1883. Obverse. Dr. Martin Luther. Born November 10, 1483; Died February 18, 1546. For the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the birth of Luther in the American Lutheran Church.
Reverse: Concordia Seminary St. Louis, Missouri. September 9, 1883. Weight 28.1 gr; Height 42.75 mm; Width 42.80 mm. Zak 305.

 

 

Obverse: Dr. Martin Luther. AL 63. Small angel heads in four corners. Issued at Nürnberg.
Reverse: Cross, heart, and Luther rose. Celebration of his 400th birthday.1883. Weight 11.5 gr; Height 27.91 mm; Width 27.91 mm. Brozatus #51a; Schnell 355.

Obverse: God’s word and Luther’s teaching do not pass away now or ever. Dr. Martin Luther born November 10, 1483.
Reverse: For the 400th birthday celebration of Dr. Martin Luther 1883. Des Christen Herz auf Rosen geht, wenn’s mitten untem Kreuze steht. Issued in the United States. Weight 14.8 gr; Height 33.2 mm; Width 33.12 mm. Brozatus #82; Zak 301

Obverse: Doctor Martin Luther 1483-1546
Reverse: For the 400th birthday celebration of Luther 1883. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God, help me. Amen. Weight 17.6 gr; Height 37.32 mm; Width 36.62 mm. Not mentioned in any reference work.

Obverse: Martin Luther November 10, 1483
Reverse 400th Anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther November 10, 1883. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God, help me. Amen. Issued in the United States. Weight 13.8 gr; Height 33.14 mm; Width 33.11 mm. Not mentioned in any reference work.

Obverse: Doctor Martin Luther 1483-1546
Reverse: For the 400th Luther Jubilee 1883. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God, help me. Weight 11.9 gr; Height 29.29 mm; Width 29.40 mm. Brozatus #75; Zak 292.

Obverse: Doctor Martin Luther Reformer.
Reverse: Eisleben, Wittenberg, Worms. In remembrance of the 400th anniversary celebration of his birth. 1483 10 November 1883. Issud at Dessau.
Weight 94 gr; Height 63.39 mm; Width 63.34 mm. Brozatus #41Schnell 349; Zak 290

Obverse: Doctor Martin Luther. Born 1483; Died 1546.
400th celebration of Luther 1883. Nürnberg
Weight 8.1 gr; Height 16.14 mm; Width 16.11 mm. Brozatus #50a or 50b; Whiting 756; Zak 296

 

Obverse: Doctor Martin Luther. Born 1483; Died 1546
Reverse: 400th celebration of Luther 1883. Nürnberg
Weight 9.2 gr; Height 15.86 mm; Width 15.85 mm. Brozatus #50a or 50b; Whiting 756; Zak 296

 

Obverse: For the 400th Lutheran Jubilee 1883.
Reverse: God’s word and Luther’s teaching do not pass away now or ever. Weight 4.0 gr; Height 5.12 mm; Width 5.08 mm. Not in any reference work.

 

 

 

Obverse: 450th Anniversary of Luther’s Birth (Brozatus of his death!). November 10, 1483. Martin Luther.
Reverse: A Century of Progress. 1833-1933. From Century to Century the Lutheran Church Proclaims her unchanging faith that Jesus Christ died for all. Chicago (World’s Fair). Weight 19.0 gr; Height 21.42 mm; Width 21.38 mm. Brozatus #111; Whiting 912; Zak 386.

Obverse: Martin Luther 1483-1933.
Reverse: Deutsches Reich 2 Reichsmark. Berlin 1933. On edge of metal: A mighty fortress is our God. Weight 14.1 gr; Height 14.52 mm; Width 14.51 mm. Brozatus

#113; Schnell 386; Whiting 907; Zak 382.

Obverse: Martin Luther 1483-1933
Reverse: Deutsches Reich 5 Reichsmark. On edge: A mighty fortress is our God. Weight 8.0 gr; Height 10.52 mm; Width 10.53 mm. Brozatus #112; Whiting 908

 

Obverse: Martin Luther 183-1933.
Reverse: Deutsches Reich. 2 Reichsmark. Weimar Republic. On edge: A Mighty Fortress is our God
Weight 8.0 gr; Height 25.03 mm; Width 24.97 mm. Brozatus #113; Zak 384.

 

Obverse: 1483-1546
Reverse: Commemorating the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther’s Birth. Soli Deo Gloria. Copyright Concordia Publishing House. St. Louis, Missouri. 4.27 g; 39.4 mm. Brozatus #197.

 

 

Obverse: St. Matthews Lutheran Church, White Plains, N.Y. 1483 Martin Luther 1983. Nov. 10. 1483. This commemorates the 500th anniversary of Luther’s birth. Luther stands with an open Bible, with the Wartburg Castle behind his left shoulder. Luther was staying at this castle when he translated the New Testament from Greek into German. This image is based on an oil painting by Rutherford Boyd which at the time was in the headquarters of the Lutheran Church in America in Manhattan.
Reverse: Logos for Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, Lutheran Church in America, and American Lutheran Church. “I am the vine, and you are the branches.” John 15:9. January 1988 (The date of the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). Sketches of the model were done by John Leinung, and the modeling was done by Gladys Gunzer of the Medallic Art Company in Danbury CT. Bronze. Weight 91.3 gr; Height 57.9 mm; Width 57.3 mm. Literature: NY Times, November 21, 1982.

 

 

 

1933 Obverse: Martin Luther 1483-1933. Reverse: Deutsches Reich
2 Reichs Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medal issued by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau commemorating the 500th birthday of Martin Luther. Obverse: Martin Luther 1483-1983.500th anniversary of his birth. Reverse: I believe that there is on earth through the whole wide world there is no more than one holy common Christian church. M.L.

 

 

Photographs contributed by the Rev. Frederick J. Schumacher

 

Bibliography

Brozatus, Klaus-Peter. Refomatio in Nummis. Osnabrück: Künker, 2015
Schnell, Hugo. Martin Luther und die Reformation auf Münzen und Medaillen. München: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1983.
Martin Luther und die Reformation auf Münzen und Medaillen. Collection of Robert B. Whiting. April 1983.
The Story of Martin Luther and the Reformation as Told by the Coin, Medal, Jetton Collection of Miss H. E. Zak. September 1979.
Smith, Thurman L. Coins and Medals of the Reformation: A Select Bibliography. Sixteenth Century Bibliography 32. St. Louis: Center for Reformation Research, 1995.

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