Twilight of the Empires The Fall of the Habsburg, Hohenzollern, and Romanov Dy n a s t ies
Austria Corona Germany ½ Mark
Russia 15 Kopeks
Order Code: TWILIGHTEMPBOX-A Coin type and grade may vary somewhat from image
The fateful year 1918 marked the end of the First World War and the fall of three of the oldest and most influential royal houses in Europe: the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns, and the Romanovs. This set features the last issues of three families that between them accounted for some 23 centuries of dynastic rule.
The House of Habsburg The Habsburgs ruled over swaths of the Continent for almost a millennia, from the time of Count Otto II in 1108, through 300 years of the Holy Roman Empire, until Armistice Day, 1918. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a Habsburg, was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne when he was assassinated by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo in 1914—an event that famously began the Great War. When his father, Emperor Franz Josef—pictured on this 1-korona silver coin—died in 1916 at age 86, the Archduke’s cousin Charles I took the throne, becoming the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Hungary, the last King of Bohemia and Croatia, the last King of Galicia and Lodomeria, and the last monarch of the great House of Habsburg. Charles did not formally abdicate, hoping to return to power, but his attempts to restore the monarchy were unsuccessful. He died in exile in Madeira in 1922.
The House of Hohenzollern The Hohenzollerns served as princes, dukes, kings, and emperors of Prussia, Germany, and Romania for some 900 years. The Zollern line was founded in the eleventh century by Burkhard I, one of the first dukes of Swabia in Southwest Germany, and remained in power until the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1918. Although intelligent and well-meaning, Wilhelm was also impatient, arrogant, and ill-tempered, and these character flaws contributed mightily to his demise. A notorious interview with the British Daily Telegraph in 1908, in which he made plain his contempt for England, was used as propaganda by the British in the run-up to the war; Wilhelm was caricatured in the British press as the very embodiment of German belligerence. He was forced to abdicate in 1918, living the rest of his 82 years in the neutral Netherlands—but never renouncing his now-meaningless title as King of Prussia.
The House of Romanov With the death of Tsar Feodor I, the simple-minded son and sole heir of Ivan the Terrible, in 1598, the Rurik dynasty died out. Russia endured a 15-year period of extreme hardship known as the Time of Troubles, which saw coups by usurpers and false pretenders to the throne and a full third of the population starve to death. Mikhail Romanov, just 16 years old and terrified at the prospect of rule, became tsar in 1613, the first of a line that included Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, solidifying the political situation in Russia for the next 300 years. The last tsar, the hapless Romanov Nicholas II, ruled during the Bloody Sunday massacre, the humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, and most of the Great War, in which over three million Russians perished. Nicholas was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the 1917 February Revolution and summarily executed with the entire royal family a year later. Contrary to popular myth, his daughter Anastasia did not survive, although his cousin, Prince Philip, is the husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
DATA: This collection features rare silver coins from each of the three royal houses.
H absburg: Aus tria KM-28 20 , Co ro n a Obverse: Franz Joseph I, head right. Reverse: Crown above value, date at bottom, sprays flanking; Weight: 5 g 0.1342 oz ASW; Diameter: 22mm
Hohenzollern: Germany, KM-17, ½ Mark, Wilhelm II Obverse: Denomination within wreath; Reverse: Crowned imperial eagle with shield on breast within wreath; Weight: 2.77g, 0.08036334 oz ASW; Diameter: 20mm
Romanov: Russia, KM-Y21a, 15 Kopeks , Nicho las II Obverse: Crowned double-headed imperial eagle, ribbons on crown; Reverse: Crown above date and value within wreath; Weight: 2.69g, 0.0434 oz ASW; Diameter: 19mm
Box Measures: 7.25” X 5.5”
All coins in each set are protected in an archival capsule and beautifully displayed in a mahogany-like box. The box set is accompanied with a story card, certificate of authenticity, and a black embossed gift box.