Currency - Germany - 100 Mark - Year 1910

Item code: 142/DE-4

Year	1910
Obverse	Mercury at left; Ceres at right.
Reverse	Germania seated with shield and sword near an oak tree; Steamships.
Watermark	Wilhelm I - German Emperor, King of Prussia; "100".
Size	207 x 102 mm

Obverse Description

Mercury and Ceres (Mythology)

Mercury

Mercury is a major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the patron god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence (and thus poetry), messages/communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he is also the guide of souls to the underworld. He was considered the son of Maia and Jupiter in Roman mythology. He is often depicted holding the caduceus in his left hand. Similar to his Greek equivalent (Hermes) he was awarded the caduceus by Apollo who handed him a magic wand, which later turned into the caduceus.

Ceres

In Roman mythology, Ceres was the goddess of agriculture, especially the growing of grains and cereals, good fertility and motherly relationships. She was daughter of Saturn and mother of Proserpina. A statue of Ceres stands atop the Chicago Board of Trade Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Reverse description

Germania (personification)

Figure of Germania atop the Niederwalddenkmal in the Rhine valley, dedicated 1883

Germania is the personification of the German nation or the Germans as a whole, most commonly associated with the Romantic Era and the Revolutions of 1848, though the figure was later used by Imperial Germany. 

"Germania" is the Latin name of the country called "Deutschland" in the spoken language of its own inhabitants, though used as the country's name in various other languages, such as "Germany" in English. In the country itself, the use of the Latin "Germania" was mainly literary and poetical, linked with patriotic and nationalist feelings, like "Hibernia" for Ireland, "Caledonia" for Scotland, "Lusitania" for Portugal etc. 

Germania as personification is usually depicted as a robust woman with long, flowing, reddish-blonde hair and wearing armour. She often wields the "Reichsschwert" (imperial sword), and possesses a mediaeval-style shield that sometimes bears the image of a black eagle on a gold field. Additionally, she is sometimes shown as carrying or wearing the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

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