Description

This coin of 5 Centimes, as well as the 2½ Centimes and the 10 Centimes, were the first divisional coins (Scheidemünze) minted for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Curiously, the coins struck at the Brussels mint show the mint mark of the Utrecht mint and this was worth to M. Emmanuel Servais, Administrateur général des Finances, a letter of protest from the Dutch Minister of Finance: "Of these two signs the first (caduceus) is used to indicate that coins are minted in the mint of Utrecht, while the second (Roman sword) is the particular sign of the Director of the mentioned mint, M. H.A. van den Wall Bake. The reproduction of these two marks on foreign coins infringes the rights of the Dutch manufacture from the industrial point of view, and constitutes for these coins a defect of form, an artistic vice which it is desirable to remedy as quickly as possible". In his answer, Servais said that when he took office he had definitely adopted this monetary type, chosen by his predecessor (Norbert Metz): "The evil seems to me without remedy, since all the corners are completed".

Engraver: François Barth-Wahl