Highest circulation denomination coin ever?

Does anyone know if the Mexico 50 peso pieces of 1921-1931 actually circulated? They were over 20% heavier than a 100 Kroner.

 

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Very cool, the best I ever did was dr. wright in the Urban Dictionary...

 

I don't speak for @Williammm but I took it to mean what coin had the highest numerical value on the coin. In this regard, I think it would have to be one of the German inflationary coins for the older ones, and the Japanese 500 yen for the modern one.

 

With those Westphalian pieces you can have even higher denominations. But they did not actually circulate.

Christian

 

For the highest denomination coin surely the 5000 cash issued by Wang Mang in 7AD would have to be close to the mark. It is a true coin but in the shape of a knife and had the inscription inserted in gold.

 

I have a Notgeld from Heilbronn of 50 Milliarden Marks [50 billion marks].

 

...so what was the highest denomination coin that DID circulate? Deja Vu

 

They were used for fundraising purposes according to the Jaeger catalog and other sources. People could buy them and thus support various welfare purposes. In 1923 the profits also supported the fight against the Belgian-French occupation of the Ruhr area. The pieces issued in late '23 were actually made "for" circulation, but by the time they came out, the inflation was over. Thus many of them were donated to schools in the area. The big 1 Billion (US: 1 trillion) piece came out in 1924 and was sold, as a fundraiser or souvenir, at a price of 2.50 RM.

Christian

 

Right, been there done that. When it comes to German coins issued by the national government, the 500 Mark (early 1923) was the highest denomination piece. But that became worthless pretty fast, and "paper" (plus local notgeld) was used instead.

Don't know what the "biggest amount" on a notgeld coin from those years was. In terms of paper money, there was a local 100 Billionen (US: 100 trillion) Mark here in Düsseldorf that actually circulated. Now with paper money, that can easily be topped by Zimbabwe for example, but coins are usually made to last for some time. So it would make sense, for the purpose of this topic, to leave (hyper-)inflation money aside ...

Christian

 

Thank you. I realized they were struck very late in the hyperinflation but did not know they ended up as fundraiser tokens. They are the most attractive Notgeld of the period.

 

Doug, I've been making teasing comments on the assumption that everyone reading this thread already knew the contributions you've made to the study of ducats. It occurs to me that that may not be true, and for that, I apologize. Everyone should know that you are a recognized expert, and have made significant contributions to Darek's comprehensive reference.

We now return to -jeffB's normal snarkiness.

 

Let me re-phrase (should I start my own thread?) For coins that have a number represented on the coin, no matter what language or system, what is the largest number that has ever been on a coin.