The reverse features a three-masted bark flying the flag of Bremen that breaks through a chain and, at the bottom, the coat-of-arms of the City of Bremen. In the early 19th century the Weser River, Bremen’s navigation artery, was becoming silted up. Bremen purchased a coastal strip at the mouth of the river from the Kingdom of Hanover, on which it started construction of Bremerhaven (Bremen’s Harbor) in 1827. The ship breaking through a chain symbolizes the free navigation to the new harbor and the end of the dependence on the Weser. The edge inscription is NAVIGARE NECESSE EST (Navigation is Necessary).

(Brilliant, Proof)