I recently acquired this Medal/ token, that commemorates the 1923 hyper-inflation. The obverse has written "The tragedy of the German people" the reverse has a list of prices noted on December 1st, 1923. "1 pound bread= 260 million marks" etc. I have seen 3 versions of this medal, but my big, unanswered question is why someone minted these and when. My only guess, might be that someone was trying to stir up nationalistic feelings later on. But that is only a guess. Anyone have any info on this? Thanks
I wish I could help but that is neat. We have German folks here so maybe they will chime in... Cool Addition.....post it in this thread also..more eyes the better. http://www.cointalk.com/threads/lets-see-your-exonumia.203005/page-87
Never seen that medal before. I google'd it and it seems to be from Saxony (former Eastern Germany): Issued by: E. Mitlehner, Mittweidaer Metallwarenfabrik Composition: brass 9.9gr Diameter: 32mm Date: n/a - contemporary, but unknown
Google further, and you find that the "MM" company was renamed in 1957, so the medal dates from before 1957.
Saxony is still in Eastern Germany, hehe. (I know what you mean.) In the 1920s the state was in the central south, sort of. As for the "message" of the piece, well, on 1 Nov 1923 the Rentenmark was introduced which brought the hyperinflation period to an end. So this one was issued after (but probably not long after) that date. Of course many people did suffer (hence the "Leidensweg"); 260 bn mark* for one pound (500 g) of bread, that sure is a tremendous amount. Even worse, prices went up significantly within hours. And yes, many in Germany believed that what followed WW1, from the "winners of the armistice" POV, was harsh. Think of the Belgian-French occupation of the Ruhr area earlier in the year of that medal. But while most medals by Karl Goetz, for example, were pretty bad anti-French (and anti-British etc.) propaganda, this one puts the emphasis on how people struggled with and during the inflation. There are similar medals (like this one) which in my opinion are primarily reminders of the "bad days" as well. * A German "Milliarde" - see the " 260 Milliard." on the medal - is the same as an American "billion". And our "Billion" is a trillion for you ... Christian
I guess that's my question. Why would someone want a commemorative medal about such miserable times? I grew up with my Grandmother telling me stories about her life with my Grandfather, in those years. I can't imagine her wanting to have a medal like this, if she were still alive.
Don't think many would want to buy/collect such a piece during such a hyperinflation period. But afterwards, as a reminder of how bad things had been, why not? Christian
Worldwide, the number of medals and tokens commemorating tragedies, disasters, assassinations, etc., is immense; just look at Kennedy material, or 9-11 items, or Civil War battle memorabilia, etc. People DO want to remember, or get closure, or affirm their survival.
It's interesting to note that the History Channel is currently airing a documentary on the "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". At the end of World War I, all of the world powers involved in the conflict came together to formulate the conditions of surrender. The Treaty of Versailles contained 440 clauses, of which, 414 were specifics on reparations that Germany would have to pay to the various nations. The conditions of the treaty were so severe that it made it practically impossible for the people of Germany to subsist. Unemployment, lack of food, lack of civil authority, etc. were totally ignored and rebuilding the country was not a consideration. It's too bad that greed fueled so many of the stipulations of the treaty because had it not been for that, we may never have had to go through World War II. By the way, Japan happened to be one of the "friendly" nations, but they were, for the most part, shunned by their Caucasian counterparts. Chris
I recently read a book called "The Downfall of Money" that covers the inflation in Germany after WWI. I'd recommend it to anyone on this board interested in the inflationary time in Germany and more generally how a country's monetary system can go bad and what happens when it does.
As you mentioned it could have been done in a nationalistic sense as a way to put the blame on the other nations for what had happened to Germany. Such things were done in the 1930's as the National Socialist German Workers Party was rising to power. A reminder of the suffering the country had gone through.
From what I know, those pieces were made in the 1920s, not in the 30s. But I suppose anything German must somehow be connected to what the Nazi Channel airs. Christian
I believe these were contemporary to the inflation happening. Unlike paper money or the latter issue (aluminum) inflation coinage, these were something that people could hold onto that had heft. They were made to rally support around currency/economic reform. One thing I'd love to read more about is how rentenpfennig were monetized. All I've ever found is a note that they were capitalized based on the value of German industry. How on earth did that work? Forming a national currency on the basis of private property held by its citizens (property which cannot easily be sold or repossessed) seems rather difficult to pull off.
I`m glad we did have to endure WWII otherwise I wouldn`t have been born because my parents would not have met. My mother and her family were bombed out of two homes in 1940 and 1941 and they lost everything, they had to move to temporary accommodation in another part of the city. My Dad visited my home port on shore leave after the D Day landings, he had never been to this city before. He met my mother at a dance and promised to return after the war. In late 1945 they got together , got married and had children Many millions of people died in WWII, but many millions of people exist today because of it.
Of course, there is no absolute way of knowing what may have occurred after WWI. That maniac Hitler might have seized control of Germany anyway. My Mom & Dad met in Washington, DC and were married the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. For all I know, I could be 70+ by now. Chris
Must be difficult to discuss anything Germany related in a US forum without ending up with the nazis. So if you believe that the medal in the initial has anything to do with them, be my guest. As for the Rentenmark, in October 1923 the (semi-public) Deutsche Rentenbank was founded, with capital based on contributions from those who had not been affected by the inflation that much. That was primarily the industry, agriculture (land), house owners, etc. Those contributions were mandatory, and basically some sort of tax ... The value of 1 Rentenmark was set to 1 trillion "old" marks on 20 Nov 1923. And while the Rentenmark was not legal tender (i.e. nobody had to accept it as payment of debt), it soon became widely accepted. In August 1924 the Reichsmark (legal tender) was introduced; both types of Marks existed until the 1948 currency reforms. Christian
Btw, if you want to read some very well researched (historical fictional) novels set largely during the inter-war years in Germany, I highly recommend the Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr. I found out about these when he was interviewed on NPR and was instantly hooked by his Deutsche Noir: http://www.npr.org/2009/08/13/111584704/prewar-berlin-inspires-crime-novelists-dark-side
Update to add - I learned that Philip Kerr passed in 2018, so there likely wont be any more of his Bernie Gunther books coming.
