OK, here my newest addition to my German collection. It is a 1940-A 10pf Reichskreditkassen coin...which is a Military Occupation Coin from WWII. For those of you who don't know about these, they were minted using very low grade materials for circulation in areas under occupation by the German military. They are made of zinc and today, the vast majority of examples seen are very corroded and pitted. They are someone scarce in general, and almost never seen in high grade. That said, being an A mint (Berlin), this is the most common coin in the series. Please let me know what you think. There are two parts to the poll. I am asking you to grade the coin and vote according...but also, tell me if you think it should be submitted to PCGS (one of the last 2 voting options). So please enter two votes, one for a grade and one for yes/no PCGS. Also, I would really like to hear opinions about the coin itself. I'm not interested in personal political opinions or the "morality" of collecting these coins. But, I would really like feedback about the coin. Here are some photos. My camera isn't really that great at taking coin photos...so I have done my best. I took many pictures and these are as good as they get. I'm also including the original auction photos which are much clearer. My Photos Angled Photos I Took to Show Luster Original Auction Photos
wow those are amazing pieces. I dont know the first thing about grading, but those are pretty awesome.
LOL, unfortunately I have the same problem...but in reverse. I have no idea what the European grading standards are or how they translate to the Sheldon Scale.
I'm not an expert either, but I'd go with (US) AU-50. As for sending it in Richie? I'd keep it unholdered. Something to be said about a coin that can be looked upon in the raw. You want it holdered, buy it holdered. That's just the cheepo in me I guess. Let someone else pay the holdering fee......
I would really like to know where you guys are seeing wear. I want to examine that area in hand to see if I missed it. I almost always agree with you here Ken. However, in this case...you never see these coins in this shape and I have never seen one in a slab. I prefer my more choice coins slabbed and I don't believe this is a coin you can hold out for a slabbed example. But I do agree with you and that's why I have only ever submitted 2 coins (and both were family heirlooms with great sentimental value).
I'm harsh with my grading....maybe overly harsh? I don't know. Maybe I mis-spoke? On second look, I'm not seeing any wear. Perhaps I was mistaking "strike" for "wear". You mentioned the composition of the coin as being prone for pitting and such. I see none of that with this coin. It's very clean indeed.
i might be too, but i think the tips of the "leaves??" on the reverse show some. it could just be the strike.
They certainly are prone to that. Here is an example of one that is currently for sale on eBay. This a 5pf coin and is a 1940-D which is a bit more desirable than the 10pf 1940-A I have. But, it's from the same seller...so you can compare the original auction photos of mine to the photos in this auction. As you can see, this one is in much rougher shape. http://cgi.ebay.com/GERMANY-5-Reich...5?pt=UK_Coins_European_RL&hash=item4aab150d3d
Nice coin. IMO it is MS61-62 which is MUCH better than most surviving examples. I would not slab it because it would match my world collection better in its raw state. If you put it in a 2x2 make sure you label it so folks know it is special.
OK...so this one took some time. The coin was sent to PCGS by a local coin shop and it took forever. I whined about it in this thread: http://www.cointalk.com/t191217/ Anyway, it finally came back and here is the result:
It looks very nice in its new holder. Nice coin & grade. You must let us know if you ever put it up for sale.
