Switzerland, 1944 AD., 500th anniversary of the battle of St. Jakob an der Birs commemorative, Bern mint, 5 Franken, KM 45.

Switzerland, 500th anniversary of the battle of St. Jakob an der Birs commemorative, engraver: E. Wiederkehr, Bern mint, 1944 AD.,
5 Franken / Francs / Francos (ø 31 mm / 15,00 g), 0.835 silver, 15,00 g theor. mint weight, mintage 102.000 , axes coin alignment ↑↓ (180°), plain edge with embossed lettering: *******DOMINUS PROVDEBIT*******,
Obv.: HELVETIA / E.WIEDERKEHR , a swissman, kneeling, wounded by an arrow in his breast, a stone in his right, striking out to cast r. (Arnold Schick throwing the rock and kiilling knight Burkhard VII. Münch).
Rev.: 5 FR / + / MORI MALUNT - QUAM SUPERARI / ST. JAKOB / AN DER BIRS / MCDXLIV / B / 1944 , swiss cross in upper field.
KM 45 .

Year / Mint Mark / Mintage
1944 ? ("Specimen")
1944 B 102.000

The Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs was fought between the Old Swiss Confederacy and French (mostly Armagnac) mercenaries, on the banks of the river Birs. The battle took place on 26 August 1444 and was part of the Old Zürich War. The site of the battle was near Münchenstein, Switzerland, just above 1 km outside the city walls of Basel, today within Basel's St-Alban district.
In 1443, the seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy invaded the canton of Zürich and besieged the city. Zürich had made an alliance with Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, who now appealed to Charles VII of France to send an army to relieve the siege.
Charles, seeking to send away troublesome troops made idle by the truce with Henry VI of England in the Hundred Years' War, sent his son the Dauphin (later Louis XI of France) with an army of about 20,000 mercenaries into Switzerland, most of them Armagnacs, to relieve Zürich. As the French forces entered Swiss territory at Basel, the Swiss commanders stationed at Farnsburg decided to send an advance troop of 1,300, mostly young pikemen. These moved to Liestal on the night of 25 August, where they were joined by a local force of 200. During the battle the Swiss suffered heavy casualties and were virtually wiped out by the Armagnacs.

Burkhard VII. Münch (died 29 August 1444) was a knight and life peer, a renowned late member of the Landskron branch of the Münch family. He achieved sad reputation after the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs.
Being a Habsburg faithful, Burkhard VII. rode as knight with Dauphin Louis XI and Jean V de Bueil. He was also named by the French as Bourgeamoine. He joined the Armagnacs in the battle against the Swiss Eidgenossenschaft as negotiator, translator and guide. His demeanour following the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs is a theme in Swiss patriotic historiography.

Following the battle, Burkhard VII. rode his horse across the field to witness the dead and the wounded and sarcastically mocked the Swiss. He raised the visor of his helmet and uttered a sentence that was to become famous: "Ich siche in ein rossegarten, den min fordren geret hand vor hunderd jar" ("I gaze out into a rosarium, that my ancestors planted one hundred years ago").
Provoked by this arrogant phrase, one of the dying Swiss, one Arnold Schick of Uri, hurled a rock into the open visor. According to the legend, the equally famous answer that accompanied the throw was: "Da friss eine der Rosen!" ("Here eat one of the roses"). The Horse he was riding jolted and fled. Burkhard VII. fell from his saddle and was dragged from the battlefield. He died from his wounds three days later.
Burkhard's death spelled the end of the family Münch of Landskron, which ended completely when his brother Johann IX. died in 1461.
Another depiction of Arnold Schick throwing the rock, with the inscription citing his dictum of ''Da friss eine der Rosen alongside Für Freiheit und Vaterland ("For Liberty and Fatherland") also shows a silver medal for the cantonal tir at Binningen, Basel in 1893.