I purchased this coin many years ago from a German dealer on eBay to fill a void in a German type set. It was not cheap. It has been in storage for many years and I was just looking at it. It was in coin protector and I had never examined it closely before but I now note some irregularities that suggest it is either a fake or a poor strike. The stamping on the rim is correct but weak. Most notable is the flaw to the right of the 3 on the reverse. I am military and am just unpacking after a big move so I don't have any of my reference books available. The weight is just shy of 11 g. I think I know the answer but I'd be delighted if any of you can tell me this is a good piece. Thanks Tom
here ya go. Germany- Weimar Republic, 1931-A, 3 Reichsmark. metal- .500 silver, weight 15.00 g. or 0.2411 oz., mintage-13,324,000 grade/value F-$140 VF-$300 XF-$500 not sure your coin is real or not ? the weight is a red flag ? wait for more opinions...
Yup. Bad news for me. Damn. Wish I had examined this when I got it. I paid market price for it. Thanks very much for your help. Regards, Tom
Well... I guess my digital scale is broken. I re-weighed it using an old-fashioned apothecary scale and got 15.1 g. So it is probably OK but that flaw on the reverse is very odd. Tom
what flaw ? right of the 3 ? is it 30mm size ? now I am thinking it is real. it looks cleaned too. not sure how much value that takes off ? guessing in the VF range could be a lower grade just not sure.
Yes.. 30 mm. The flaw is that bump to the right of the 3. Doesn't look typical of die failure and haven't seen a similar mark on photos of other examples. It does not appear to have been traumatic so more likely occurred during the minting process. Have you seen a similar mark before? It is slightly raised.