16 January 2019
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A special coin marking the 70th anniversary of the German delicacy the 'Currywurst' has been issued by the Berlin State Mint, prompting a mixed response from coin collectors
Issued to celebrate the anniversary of the invention of the unique sausage treat, the coin shows two sausages in the special curry sauce, in colour, with the inventor depicted in the background.
According to the Berlin State Mint, the delicacy was invented by Herta Heuwer, who was born on June 30, 1913 in Königsberg.
She 'had been operating a food stall in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg since the summer of 1949. There was little going on on 4 September; she had time to experiment. Freshly cut peppers, paprika, tomato paste and spices mixed them together. Then she poured the whole thing over a fried, sliced boiled sausage. Invented was the Currywurst.'
The new coin and its unusual subject has attracted great interest on social media, with The Royal Society amongst those taking to twitter to share their views. The Society tweeted: 'A cursed wurst image', whilst Berlin correspondent Oliver Moody added the rather harsh critique: 'The state mint in Berlin has issued a memorial coin celebrating 70 years of currywurst and it may just be the most horrible thing in the history of numismatics'.
The 32.5mm-diameter coin is limited to just 2,500 pieces and is the 16th edition of the series of annual commemorative coins of the capital, which began in 2004.
The Mint added:
'A really original Currywurst you can not eat today, since Herta Heuwer 1999 took the recipe to the grave. Since 2003, a memorial tablet in honor of Herta Heuwers has been located at the former location of their snack bar. According to the Berlin Currywurst Museum, 800 million curry sausages are consumed per year in Germany.'
The state mint in Berlin has issued a memorial coin celebrating 70 years of currywurst and it may just be the most horrible thing in the history of numismatics pic.twitter.com/SgGJ5TtgWH
— Oliver Moody (@olivernmoody) January 14, 2019
