Germany, 5 Mark, from the series Coins of All Nations (N72, variation 2) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 3.8 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
63.350.204.72.41
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Germany, 5 Mark a tiny yet captivating commercial color lithograph 1889. Produced by W. Duke Sons & Co., America's pioneering cigarette manufacturer, this print is part of the "Coins of All Nations" (N72, variation2). Tucked into Duke brand cigarette packs, these cards fueled a collecting cra, offering smokers pocket-sized glimpses of global currencies this depiction of a German 5 Mark coin, adorned with a stern figure evoking the era's national pride. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing with its colors...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...