My boss and I found a 1941 Nazi Germany, 5 Reichspfennig with an eagle sitting on a swastika. Are these rare and worth anything? Im not into the whole neo-nazism, but its pretty cool to see a little piece of history in your hands. I like to collect foreign money somewhat, but my boss kept the german coin, and I kept the buffalo nickel we found at the same time. Looks like this : http://www.luckylukeonline.com/5pfzink.html
Unless its in really prestine condition, it is worth...at the most a dollar or 2. I really think these coins are interesting, but they are fairly common.
I will have to look at my book when I get home but I think there are 2 versions of this coin...one minted only in 40 and 41 made of zinc...another from 40-44? the zinc one is worth a bit more...anywhere between 10-50 dollars depending on condition. I will post in a few hours confirming this is someone else hasnt before them as I am only drawing from fuzzy memory...if it isnt zinc...then it isnt worth much at all...a few bucks maybe.
Chump Change,that is a very common coin,but there are some date & mintmark combinations that are worth a bit of money. Aidan.
my bad...all the 5 Reichspfennig from 1941 are zinc and are worth somehwere between .10 to 8.00 USD depending on condition assuming it isnt BU.
The 1941-A 5 Reichspfennig is worth $0.25 in VF and all the other 1941 5 Reichspfennig issues are valued at $0.40 in VF according to the 2007 edition of Krause. The mint mark can be found just below the large "5" between the leaves. I'm not sure if this is the obverse or the reverse as I have seen various sources say it is both. Look for a mintmark of A B D E F G or J.
RichieB16 & Chump Change,the mintmarks are always on the reverse of the zinc 1,5,& 10 Reichpfennig,but on the obverse of the aluminium 50 Reichspfennig. Aidan.
Well I collect WWII German militaria (hense my name) so let me add a bit of info here. First of all a coin from 1941 (which is mid-early war) could get a fair amount. Look for varients on the mint. With German badges and medals from the period maker marks mean a lot so I assume whichever mind made it could make it worth more. I do think it's worth more than a couple dollars, but that's my opinion. Maybe I just think it SHOULD be worth more than a couple of dollars. I have seen a lot of expensive militaria just because it has a swaztika on it (making it more rare and such) so the swaztika boosts value a bit. As for neo-nazi's, I'd bet you money none of them give a crap about the real history. They are usually just ignorant about everything. PM if you have questions Mansal
My comment was mostly to locate the mint mark. The obverse vs. reverse was more of a joke because I have seen that particular side of the coin called both. For example, Krause lists the side of these coins with the eagle the obverse...so, that would put the mint mark on the reverse (I think this is techinically correct). There are other sources I have seen, primarily online (and therefore not "official") that list the demonination side as the obverse. So, I think it can be confusing to someone who is just learning about these coins and using the internet as a resource. Being someone who also collects WWII era artifacts...what you have said is generally correct. For most items, pre-war/early war means more valuable. But, this is not necessarily true for coins. For example, this particular zinc 5 reichspfennig series was minted from 1940-1944. Interestingly enough, the "key" coin for this series, at least in my opinion, is the 1944-G issue because it has a low mintage and many were likely destroyed. All the early issues 1940-1942 are common (with only the 1942-E having much of a premium: they usually run $6-$50 from F-BU). However, generally...early WWII is better. For example, I have a 1939 Mauser K98 rifle with impereal eagles stamped on it. This is very deserible when compared for a 1942 or 1943 make (generally). Of course, mine has been sporterized and the calibur changed...but it still maintains these numbers and stamps. That hurts the value (probably by a lot I would assume) but it is still a fairly desirable rifle whem compared to the mid-late war versions that can be cheaply purchased.
Well, the Krause is as "official" or "not official" as any other non-official source. And since there was no law that consistently said this or that is the obverse, you can basically pick what you want. In the Federal Republic, by the way, we officially use "Bildseite" (depicts the event/person that is commemorated) and "Wertseite" (shows the face value and the standard elements - country name, eagle, twelve stars of Europe, year/mintmark) for collector coins - again avoiding the obverse/reverse issue. Circulation and commemorative coins have a "common side" (usually considered the reverse) and a country specific side (usually considered the obverse). But that won't really help with Nazi coinage ... Christian
