5 Marks the spot. German federal Republic

Hallo, wie geht es dir.

Obviously I am a huge fan of the "screaming eagle" silver 5 mark.
I am trying to complete a year type set (1951-1974). I am almost there! I need 4 more.
Anyway, I just received some I was missing, and upgrades to others. I also buy duplicate years if the price is right and the coin is nice.
A lot of these are not easy to come by with original mint luster and nice grades.
Generally these coins seem to get banged up a lot more on the obverse, as you can see from most of these.

It surprises many people to know they minted silver coins for circulation, all the way to 1974.
Many mints had very low mintage, so those are very elusive to find in high grade.

Type set amounts:
Year set: 19
Year/mm set: 75
Proofs only: 75 (Some of these will cost 1-8k each)


KM# 112.1
German federal Republic
5 MARK
11.2000 g.
0.6250 Silver
0.2250 oz. ASW
9 mm.
Obv: Denomination above date
Rev: Large eagle
Edge: EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT "UNITY AND JUSTICE AND FREEDOM"


Here are the new ones, in all their screaming eagle glory. A couple of them certainly look like proofs, even though they were ordered as business strikes. I'm not complaining.













As always, thanks for looking and I hop to generate some interest in these beautiful coins.

 

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Thanks to your avatar I realized I dont have a Federal Republic pre-1975 5 Marks in German part of my collection (I collect types, not years). Got a 1951J for a really low price recently. Lately also got a comem. 5 with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - 250th Death Anniversary.

Awesome coins you got there.

 

Gut, danke.

Yes, quite obviously, hehe. Actually I like that design too, but isn't it a little boring to collect them by year (or even mintmark too)? Admittedly I have them (by year) as well, but only because ... well, they once were legal tender here. Usually, ie. with other countries, I collect by type, like Taxidermist. And yes, great grades! It is not exactly easy (or rather, not cheap) to get that 5 DM coin in such grades, as - at least in the early years - not many could afford to just put them aside.

The edge inscription are the first words of our national anthem, by the way. Those five words were on every 2 DM and 5 DM circulation coin, and are on the German €2 coins today.

Christian

 

Lol chrisild. It's neither boring or exciting for me lol. It's more of an OCD thing. I figured, since I had some, I might as well finish a set. Why? No idea...
Then once I started getting some higher grade ones, I of course, had to bring the rest them up to similar quality.
I am still hunting for a well priced 1951' in MS. A couple more and I'm done! Then it's on to the next thing. What is that? Who knows? Certainly not me.

Also, do you think the 72 and 74 above are proofs? They were purchased as business strikes.

 

Gbroke, nice looking coins for sure. Everything you post pictures of is really nice quality stuff. It is a very attractive type set. Nice collection.

 

Thanks Mike,

Keep an eye out for a blazing BU+ 1951 for me over there in germany.

Of course I wouldn't mind a 1958-J, but holy smokes! moon money over here.

For anyone interested, the 1958 J is the lowest mintage in this series with only 60K. A nice grade MS will get you for $2-5k.

I saw an unappealing AU go for $1000 on heritage years ago.

 

Hard to tell, but the 1972F and 1974G coins have that frosted eagle/shiny background contrast which suggests proof. At German websites you may come across terms such as "ex PP" (formerly proof) or "vz aus PP" (EF from proof) etc., which mean that a proof piece was taken out of its original packaging, and then kept as a loose coin for a while. In English that would be "impaired proof", I think.

Whether we like it or not, many collectors do not appreciate such "ex PP" coins, which also affects the price. So (assuming those two are/were proof coins, and I could be wrong ), it does make sense for a dealer to not charge the "PP" price for them. And yes, 1958J is darn expensive by Federal Republic standards; even a relatively low grade (VF) piece may easily cost €500. Also, beware of manipulations; that is a coin which I would not buy from, say, an eBay vendor. But since I do not collect by mintmark, I don't have to worry about that ...

Have fun with your "5DM OCD" as long as you pursue it. Usually I prefer designs that are a little more balanced, ie. some text on the obverse and some on the reverse. But that big eagle, with absolutely nothing else around, is an attractive design.

Christian

 

Well, you said you wanted to genorate interest in this series. I guess you got your way. I have picked up a hand full since you posted this topic a while back. While I may not look to complete a year set, I will look at nicer ones I come across. Thanks for the nudge and good luck.

MikeP

 

Nice Mike! Keep an eye out for those gem's and toners. I suspect you will have more like finding them than I do.
-greg

 

I think the 1974 G might be a proof wich has escaped into circulation. Proof - issues of the last years of minting comes in larges amounts, so they are not too pricy . BU - issues of the late 1950ths though...

 

This one here (coin below) is a non proof, depending on lightning and angle of perspective I get a high contrast between fields and relief (also frosted appearance) close to a proof like appearance what clearly signals this not being a proof is the characteristic radial light reflection (Am. cartwheel effect?) of a Stempelglanz (st) coin. If your coin behaves the same than it's not a proof, which would be better than it being an ex. proof coin. Former proof coins are often called vz aus pp/xf of prf and are among German collectors highly unfavored, they're considered problem coins.


(note: the small hairs are felt from my coin tableus)

Another indicative sign for st are parallel lines on the planchet from the rollers. (<-Walzspuren der Ronden)

Again same coin with different angle and lightning:



Many high grade German coins exhibit a frosted appearance, this 1 Mark Kaiserreich 1904 D is the same.



I realize my pictures are not the best, I still hope they help.

Based on the your pictures the 74s are st, the 72s don't know, could only clearly tell from hand experience.

 

And yes early years of the Silberadler tend to be very expensive in high grades.
a coin that deserves to be a called a proof: http://www.ma-shops.de/franquinet/item.php5?id=54443

Gbroke in case you don't know already I will recommend: http://www.ma-shops.de

 

Well, I decided to put a short set together. Just one frome each year. Nothing show stopping, but in AU as the goal and BU if I just can't walk away from it. Here is one I think is good enough to keep around.

 

Great, before you know it you will fall in love with German coins.

 

That's a nice looking '58 Mike.

 

I came across this 1957 J today and ended up taking it home. Has a nice "cartwheel" going on that I was not able to capture in a photo.

thanks

MikeP

 

Very nice Mike. If that does have original mint luster, that's a real beauty. Either way, the details are high grade for this low minted coin. The 50's sure have some tough ones to find in these grades. Way to go! I would like to know how much it set you back if possible. You can pm me.

 

Well, I am excited for you and also have severe OCD

 

I've learned to accept it, and just deal with it.

 

Awesome!:thumb: