1864 German States 1/2 Groschen (Hannover)

I added a nice little coin to my horse-themed set. I just bought it 2 days ago, and it came in the mail already today (a nice surprise).

This coin features the Saxon Steed, which is a favorite heraldic motif of the Saxons. The Saxon Steed has very old origins, possibly as far back as the 5th Century AD. The image is common on the coinage of the Kingdom of Hannover, which existed from 1814-1866. The steed is even found on the flag of the Kingdom of Hannover from 1837-1866. At the time this coin was minted in 1864, the Kingdom of Hannover was ruled by George V, a cousin of Queen Victoria of England and the grandson of George III of England. The Kingdom of Hannover dissolved in 1866 when it was conquered by Prussia, and was briefly reinstated as an independent state in 1946. The state of Hannover subsequently joined other small states and became the present day state of Lower Saxony, one of 16 states making up Germany. To this day, the Coat of Arms of Lower Saxony features the image of the Saxon Steed.

My attempt at photographing the coin is below, and you can see the full size (much larger) photos in my "Horses" themed set. This little guy is one of two examples graded MS64 by PCGS, with none finer and no examples graded by NGC. It's surprisingly small, about the size of the U.S. half-dime. I've always wondered how people kept track of these incredibly tiny coins...

Happy collecting!

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