# 558 - German Commemoratives - Part 5

We will continue a series about silver commemoratives issued by the Federal Republic of Germany when the Mark was the legal tender.

The first one was a 1952 5 Mark commemorating the 100th anniversary of the "Germanisches Nationalmuseum" in Nuremberg and the last was a 2001 10 Mark commemorating the 750th anniversary of the "Katharinenkloster" and the 50th anniversary of the "Naval Museum" in Stralsund.

I only have a few of the 5 Mark commemoratives and I will show them in no particular order.

Each 5 Mark weights 11.2g with 62.5% silver purity and Brilliant Uncirculated finish.

Today we will see the 1973 5 Mark commemorating the 500th Anniversary of Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus.

Mikolaj Kopernik (Feb 19, 1473 - May 24, 1543) was a Polish astronomer and mathematician that developed the Heliocentric Theory of the Solar System. He was also a canon of the Catholic Church, a governor, a jurist and a physician.

His theory of Heliocentrism, that put the Sun as the center of the Solar System, opposing the Geocentric Theory (that put the Earth as the center), is considered one of the most important scientific hypothesis in Human History, responsible for the start of Astronomy.

The reverse of the coin shows Copernicus's schematic diagram of his Heliocentric Theory of the Solar System from "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published in the year of his death, 1543.

The obverse shows an eagle facing left, emblem of Germany.

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