Hey guys. I'm not into collecting World coins....yet. I know nothing about them. But somebody gave me this 1875, 1 Mark coin when I was a kid. It says "Deutsches Reich" across the top, 1 over MARK inside a wreath and 1875 on the bottom. The other side appears to be an eagle with a large shield in the middle with a crown suspended over it's head. About the exact same size as a quarter. Looks like and sounds like silver. No idea on grade. Probably somewhere around EF. Certainly below uncirculated but details and edges are sharp. Was wondering how much silver is in it (if it is) and what it might be worth. Oh yeah, what would have been the approximate dollar equivalent to it in 1875? I know I could look it up but I figured somebody here would know right away. Could post a pic I suppose.
Yup, it's .900 silver - ASW .1606 oz. Value depends on mint mark and condition, ranges from $2.50 in F to $200 in Unc.
Thanks again GD. Good to know. It weighed in on my (shiny) new scale at 5.4 grams. 0.90 of that would be 4.86 grams which converts to 0.156 troy ounces which is probably well within tolerance of your number. I'm guessing the MM is on the bottom by the eagle's talons? There appears to be a 'D' on both sides.
The full weight should be 5.556g, with the fine weight being 5.0g ... and yes, the D is the (Munich, Bavaria) mintmark. Christian
Thanks for the info. I've been messing around weighing quite a few coins lately. So far, most weighed have been under weight. Franklin halves anywhere from -0.05 g to -0.15 g below weight. Some have been right on, to +0.1. The weights are not all that precise I'm finding. I re-calibrate just about every time also. Easy to do and dead on. Still very close in the end. 0.15 grams is only 0.0048 troy ounces so they did pretty good for 1875.
Your comment is one that many people would make. Of course it is based on the assumption that because it was what seems like a long time ago that the people at the mints must have been somewhat backwards or lacking in technology - nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, it is in the modern age, say from the early 1800's on, that mints have become lax and let tolerances for coinage be increased. To a large degree that is because the number of coins they had to produce greatly increased and with mass production larger tolerances are needed. Even as far back as the 11th century and maybe before then, mints and their employees have had the ability to weigh coins to the grain and to refine precious metals to purity levels we use even today. So what you would find if you took the time to look is that the further back you go the tighter the tolerances for coinage become. For example, if you were to weigh Venetian gold ducats from the 1200's you would find them to be much closer in weight to each other than this coin from 1875. And even closer if compared to the coins of today.
One example - according to the German Empire's 1873 Coinage Act the silver content tolerance (+/-) for single silver circulation coins was 0.3%, the weight tolerance was 1%. That applied to the single piece; the overall tolerance (for a large quantity of coins) was basically zero. Today's euro and cent coins, for example, have more "flexible" limits: For planchets that are nominally 2 mm thick, there is a thickness tolerance of 2%. The weight tolerance is 3% per piece, and 1% per 100 pieces ... Christian
