My first Third Reich coin

Its a 1937A 2 REICHSMARK.

I feel kind of sheepish to "show off" a coin like this considering the symbols that are pretty synonymous with evil but I have become more interested in foreign coins than US coins since I began collecting.
This is my first coin of any historical significance anyway and I think its in real nice shape too.

Anyone else have coins that you may not be too "proud" to show but the collector in you really wants you to have it?

 

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There's a universe of difference between collecting Nazi coins and espousing Nazi principles. Heck, any number of Roman emperors were every bit as evil as Hitler.

 

Depends. If anybody from the US told me that the only German (or non-American) coins he collects are Nazi coins, I do find that somewhat strange. Of course everybody can collect what he, or she, is interested in. Even those strange ancient coins. But this is as if the only period in European history you learn about in school began in 1933 (or 1914 at best) and ended in 1945 ...

Christian

 

Hitler was no different than any other fascist imperialist. To make him somehow more taboo, is to put him on a pedestal where he doesn't belong. He is not special in any sort of way, not more or less evil than Stalin or Pol Pot, or a number of Roman Caesars. How many millions of North Koreans died at the hands of the megalomaniacal Kims? How many millions suffered and died due to the machinery of British imperialism from the 16th to the 19th centuries? Who is responsible for the genocide of the Native Americans?

You can't judge a collector's heart by his collection. A few years ago I visited Terezin in the Czech Republic - it is a vast and chilling testament to Nazi brutality, a collection of evil things if I ever saw one. Is it meant to glorify the Nazi regime? Of course not. What one takes from history is in one's heart, not in the artifacts of the history.

 

Just to throw it out there, I have become interested in all sorts of world coins and not just this area. I just found it interesting how I felt about owning and showing it.

 

I have caught some flack from a member or two here after posting about finding a 3rd Reich pfennig from WWII in a roll search a few months ago. I expressed that I might could just throw the coin away for what it represented. I sincerely believe the Nazi era in Europe was a horrible stain on the history of mankind - not just Germany. Evil has happened everywhere, the Germans of that time do not have a monopoly on evil.

The coin was subsequently not disposed of other than being cast off with my other European finds into a baggy that I sift out stuff to sell of later. Members did inquire of purchasing it, but I will not sell the piece. There is one member (NOS) here that still prods me about Nazi coins - which occasions to make me wonder what their objective is.

 

I consider myself a collector of Third Reich coins as I have a very strong interest in the history and time period. There is nothing wrong with collecting something that interests you even if it is associated with "evil." An interest in Nazi Germany does not in any way endorse what they did or believed in. In fact, IMHO...these items serve to remind me of their existence and not to forget the terrible things they did. I have been chastised here before about them...but I personally don't care.

As for the coin itself, it is a nice circulated example of a 1937-A 2RM. These coins contain 62.5% silver (0.1607oz). 1937-A is among the most common of this series...but a nice coin nonetheless.

 

I appreciate people who collect them as a historical pieces, but I do have a problem with people that collect the coins, fly the swastikas and go around doing the up raised salute like that Greek soccer player did the other day. Greece suffered miserably under the Nazi occupation - the guy is a traitor to his country and more importantly to humanity.

I don't like Nazi coins myself, they give me the chills - my German ancestors left Germany to escape the Prussian Junker militarists during the Franco-Prussian War. My Great Great Grandfather then sent his sons to fight in the US Army and told them he wanted them to save his fatherland from the Prussian militarists. The final gasps of the Junker dynasty played out with the defeat of Germany in 1945. So I have a deep respect for the greatness of Germany but a deep loathing for that period of history when ordinary Germans and everybody that bordered Germany had to suffer because of maniacal idiots. I have a few Hamburg and Bremen coins, where my family came from - and I collect German commemoratives up to the time the Nazi's coup d'etat. But one of my cousins gave his life during the Battle of the Bulge because of the SS - 68 years later I do not forget that.

Let us not forget that many ordinary people got caught up in the Nazi destruction - of Germany. If you didn't like the Nazis you would end up in a concentration camp just as easy as someone judged "not aryan". Those people didn't care when bombs rained down and destroyed whole cities, when whole populations were wiped out by invading armies - in fact Hitler wanted to punish Germany by letting it be destroyed - for letting him down.

 

My niece just found out very recently that her paternal grandmother was briefly detained at Terezin(Theriesenstadt) before she was sent to Ravensbruck - she was a Jewish member of the Czech resistance that only got caught because of being in the resistance. Ravensbruck was the absolute "****" camp in comparison to the model Terezin(which was largely created to be a showpiece camp for the International Red Cross). Her grandmother was one of the 3500 or so that were still alive when the place was liberated by the Russians in early 1945. She then came to America a couple of years later. Her grandmother is not my relation - unfortunately - because I wish I had an ancestor that was a hero of the resistance movement - so much so that she is memorialised in Yad Vashem.

 

@Camaro, can you tell me what 2RM is? and I know the pictures are not the greatest but trying to learn a little more about grading. Can you give a range of what you feel this coin is?

 

2RM means 2 Reichmarks. Basically, German coinage from this era is based on Marks and Pfennigs. There are 100 Pfennigs in 1 Mark. During this era, the German's added "Reich" before the denomination so you have Reichmarks and Reichpfennigs. I liken Pfennigs to cents and Marks to dollars. It's not exactly correct, but it makes it easy to think about.

 

I am an idiot. I thought it was like a variety I had not read about or something.

 

LOL, you're not an idiot at all. Just new to this type of coin. If you are interested, here are a few links to older posts of mine that featured some of my Third Reich coins. I've been collecting them for a few years now:

http://www.cointalk.com/t72821/

http://www.cointalk.com/t76454/

http://www.cointalk.com/t80320/

http://www.cointalk.com/t178994/

 

Thanks for the links. Appreciate the information. I have one other coin that I will post later. It is a coin that was minted after the fall of the Nazis and before the new government was elected. Its not in real good shape but cool coin none-the-less.

 

I assume what you are talking about is an Occupation Coin. I have one my in collection, I have a 1948-A 5pf. I would grade mine MS64. Here is a photo:

 

I collect German coins, from Empire to pre-EU, especially interested in WWII period. First time I got reichspfennigs with swastika I was quite disgusted. Probably the education, plus the fact all my relatives suffered during the war, many fought the entire war, few died in the battlefield.

That is some exceptional luster, on that 1948 5rp., CamaroDMD. I got a couple:

1945 10rp, not the best shape but its the "winning" year.



1946 10rp, it kind of got luster remains.




Got them both for really low price, seller made a huge mistake by not putting proper thought into the auction.

 

I admit, I would like to find one of the postwar RPF from the E - Muldenhutten mint - 1948 would be awesome.

 

As would I. I have never even seen one unfortunately.

 

Hrmm - I have a few of those coins kicking around I think - I'm going to have to take a look now. I got them as part of a larger lot of coins and just put them in a box somewhere I think. I think there were Hitler medals as well. I'll post pictures if I find them again.

Thanks for posting this

 

Nice coin. I have a second reich coin; same observe, but the reverse differs.