Wondering what the opinions of grade are for this coin? I'm not at all familiar with this coin or series Thanks for the opinions.
I don't see any major obvious wear but with toning it can be hard to tell in photos. It's a 3 Mark silver coin from the German State of Hamburg. The J signifies the Hamburg mint. According the Krause, the mintage was 526,000...which puts it sorta "middle of the road" as far as mintages go for this series. It's 90% silver with .48oz silver content. Personally, I think it is a beautiful piece.
I like the design and I like the color, but I lack the skills to grade such an issue. I'm unworthy and unfamiliar but that don't prevent me from postulating an MS-63.
Check out this page: http://germancoins.com/grading.html and https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide...20-1908-common-date-cuid-1126020-duid-1335991. You can zoom in on the photos in the NGC page. It looks like there is some wear in the lions' manes so I don't think it is uncirculated. But I don't see any other problems. I would say it is AU58.
Grading this coin is like grading any other coin: figure out what the high points are, look for wear. Judge luster, strike, marks, problems, eye appeal. What I see here is wear on the high points. There's a bit of luster, and the toning is gorgeous. By US standards, this would be a solid AU coin, and very attractive (a specialist in the series might argue EF+, and they might be right).
What is a "modern" German to you? This is always an interesting discussion with countries that have struck coins for hundreds/thousands of years.
Could you be more specific as to a date? Could you explain why that date is what you chose? Was there some major political or technological change that you determine as "modern"? Or are you mainly focused on "really old" versus "kinda new-ish"? For example, in US coinage 1964 is usually considered to be the line - 1964 was the last of the silver coinage, anything newer is copper-nickel. That's modern. In British coinage, 1971 is often the line (decimalization occurred in 1971, anything newer is modern). Is there a similar dividing line in German coinage to call it modern?
More like "really old" versus "kinda new-ish". 1400s to about 1700s I look at as early modern due to Columbus and such. Before that is medieval. Not sure why it really matters, it's just how I view eras from my areas of collecting. I'm sure we all have different ideas of what is modern and what isn't.
It isn't terribly important, just curious. I'm just wondering since you mentioned it. I guess I'm interested because many collectors avoid "modern" coinage and focus on historical. To most, "modern" is relatively recent. I haven't heard too many people call 1808 as recent. For example, I would have zero interest in any German coinage from 2001, but I'd be interested in the right pieces from 1901.
NGC did give it an AU58, I just didn't see anything when I had it in hand. Was hoping for a 64 Star, but that didn't happen.
I believe that was 1806. If I were to make this argument I would say 1871. That was when the unification of Germany occurred. But with so many government changes since then it could be a lot of dates. 1949 makes sense too because that is the first year after the Deutches Reich coinage ended.
I think 58 is generous. Your pictures clearly show a circulated coin. I would not have been surprised by a 55 or 53 (although 53 is not used often). I think you got a bump for the eye appeal and color.
