| Description : In June 1918, parliamentary work began on Luxembourg's
long‐planned constitutional reform. In the process, suffrage also came on the agenda at the beginning of 1919 ‐ only
wealthy men were entitled to vote under the current census suffrage law. Although all parties supported the principle of
universal suffrage, women's suffrage was only supported by the socialist and conservative deputies. In May 1919, the right to
vote and to stand for election for women and men was adopted by a three‐quarters majority, and parliamentary elections
were held as early as October. Four women stood as candidates. Marguerite Thomas‐Clement, a teacher, was elected
on the socialist list ‐ Luxembourg's first female member of parliament. The coin, designed by Herbert Wähner,
shows the image of Grand Duke Henri and a ballot box into which a woman's hand inserts a ballot paper under the heading in
French "Centenaire du suffrage universel" (one hundred years of universal suffrage) and the dates "1919‐2019" written in
two lines. The country of issue "LUXEMBOURG" (Luxembourg in French) is named at the bottom. The mint marks flanking the year
of issue exist in three different combinations: On coins in rolls, the national mint mark, the Luxembourg lion with double tail,
is depicted on the left and a staff of Hermes the mint mark of the Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Utrecht
is shown on the right. Coincards also show the staff of Hermes on the right, but the Servaasbrug (Sint‐Servaas Bridge in
Maastricht) the logo of mint master Stephan Satijn on the left. This is also shown on the left side of coins produced
in the Proof manufactoring process, but with the Luxembourg lion with double tail on the right side. |
