i have recently come across quite a few vintage german coins and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with them. I am looking for information on mint marks, mintage figures, values etc. I have found a few online references but they contained little information. 1914 F (5 Pfennig) *i put this one in an archival 2x2, i really like it 1874 A (2 Pfennig) 1918 (25 Pfennig)
If you focus on German Empire coins, there are "only" ten mints. The Federal Republic (Bundesrepublik Deutschland, see that 1 Pfennig coin) has four mints and five mint locations, thus five mintmarks. The coins that say "Deutsches Reich" are, you guessed it, from the German Empire. That 25 Pf coin is local Kriegsgeld (war money) from the city of Coblenz - today Koblenz in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. So that one you won't find in "regular" catalogs ... Christian
As for the mintmarks, the "A" is for the Berlin mint, "F" is Stuttgart. The 5 Pf 1876 piece has a "G", I think - that would be Karlsruhe. (Now a "C" would be Frankfurt, but I think it's a G.) The "J" on the coin from today's Germany is Hamburg. Note that 1950 is a frozen date which for this denomination was used between 1950 and 1965. Christian
thanks for the info, I ordered a copy of the Krause German Coin Catalog, it seemed to be the most informative guide on the market. I'm starting to realize how difficult it's going to be to finish this off, but i find this corner of numismatics to be quite fun.
Getting that book sounds like a good idea to me. In terms of value, those coins are fairly common, but nevertheless they are interesting. And if you have any questions, just ask here; my focus is on coins from this country (Federal Republic of Germany) and on euro coins, but I have some older pieces too. And I am sure others can help as well. Christian
well i just have one question for the moment Is there a counterfeit problem for these types of coins?
Not with the ones you have posted here, I think. They are not exactly rare: 5 Pf 1914 F (2.2 million) 2 Pf 1874 A (37.3 m) 5 Pf 1918 A (223.5 m) 2 Pf 1911 A (8.2 m) 10 Pf 1917 A (53.2 m) 5 Pf 1876 G (6.9 m) And of the coin from the Federal Republic, 1 Pfennig 1950 J, about 784 million were made. It is hard to tell how many of the coins are still around these days, but it would not make any sense to counterfeit them. Of course there are other coins, and year/mintmark combinations, from the German Empire (1871-1948) that are rare - and those may well be counterfeited or manipulated. But with coins that a seller wants a one digit amount for, you should be pretty safe. Christian
If you decide to start building a set of the Federal Republic issues (1950-2002), let me know. I can help you out. I started a decent collection of them when my interests were scattered all over the globe, but since I narrowed down my focus, the binder has collected dust and occupied space that could be better used.
