Here's a section for those interested in both military history & numismatics.This section is about the coins & banknotes issued by one country for use in another.I can think of quite a few examples of such coins & notes. German Occupation of Russia 1916 1,2,& 3 Kopecks coins. (Affectionately known as 'Iron Cross' money). German Occupation of Ukraine. Serbian Occupation of Bosnia-Hercegovina. Serbian Occupation of Croatia. Japanese Occupations of Burma,Malaya,Netherlands Indies, Oceania,& Philippines.
German Ghetto coins for Poland in WWII might also qualify. Also, after the war, I think the allies may have isued some notes (?), or maybe the currency was just for the military.
I have notes from the Japanese occupation of the Phillipines and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). I have several notes from the Allied occupations of Italy and Germany. If you want to get technical, I suppose you could call West German coins minted with the 1949 date "occupation" money, although of a special kind. I have one or two of those. (You might even be able to make a legal argument that all German money - West and East - until the peace/re-unification treaty was occupation money. I don't think it is, but the argument could be made.) I also have some coins from the German occupation of France.
France was "occupied" - I thought they invited the Germans in? In any case, good point about the 1949 German coins (but don't forget, there were some in '48 also - I used to get 1948 pfennings in change on rare ocassion before the Euro). These coins were issued not with the name of the country on them, but the name of the bank. I found this on a website: "By 1948 the joint Allied government had separated Germany into Western and Soviet zones, each with its own government and money. The first coins on both sides were issued before the establishment of their governments. " Also, it mentioned that in 1945 the allies reissued Nazi coins with the swastika taken off, but i am not sure if these ever circulated.
Sure. Didn't pretty much every European country "invite the Germans" back then? As for the coins used in Germany between 1945 and 1949, yes, the first post-WW2 pieces were 1 pfennig coins, "nazi style" but with the swastika removed. Those were dated 1944 for some odd reason. Shortly afterwards the design was modified a little, and the eagle got tail feathers where the swastika used to be. (1, 5 and 10 pf coins dated 1945-48.) After the currency reform in the three Western occupation zones in June 1948, new coins (1, 5, 10, 50 Pf) were issued, with a different design. And since at that time the Federal Republic did not exist yet (it was founded in May '49), the name of the central bank was used indeed. The six states that joined the Fed. Rep. later - Saarland in 1958, five more in 1990 - had of course different coins until then ... Christian
My 1 Mark and 1 Lire Occupation notes are also dated 1944. The Italians surrendered much earlier than the Germans, and the date makes sense for the Italians. Perhaps when the Italian notes were designed, somebody was thinking ahead (rare in government, I know, but ...) and designed and began production of notes and coins for the occupation of Germany as well.
The coins issued for France during the German occupation were actually issued by the collaborationist regime of Marshal Phillipe Petain (Etat Francais or French State),which was also known as Vichy France.I will start a separate section on collaborationist regimes' coins & notes. Aidan.
1 , 2 , 3 KOPECKS of 1916 , "ost" where made by germans for use in the part of Russia that was occupied by them during WW1. The coins are made from iron. I have them.
Interesting. I only knew of the 1 pf of '48 since that is all I got in change before the teuro. I saw 1949 1, 5, 10, and 50. I was not aware that other statges came later. Who controlled them after the war until they jopined?
After WW2, Saarland had a special, sort of autonomous, status. Politically it joined the Federal Republic on 1-Jan-1957; economic integration was completed, so to say, in mid-1959 when the DM became the only legal tender there. The Saar currency was called Franken, and there were four denominations: 10 Fr, 20 Fr, 50 Fr, 100 Fr. The Saar coins are dated 1954/55 and have the same size, composition, etc. as the corresponding French franc coins of those years. The other five states were parts of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) before they joined the Federal Republic in 1990 The DDR had Mark and Pfennig coins, but most of the circulation pieces were made from aluminum ... Christian
nice topic! I'm quite interesed in military occupation coins. To mention another ones, I have 1, 5, 10 and 25 cents from The Netherlands, Germany occupation. Also here in Paraguay we have the banknotes issued by "Lezica & Lanus". Used during the Argentinian occupation in 1870.
Saarland. Christian,the coins of Saarland can technically be regarded as a German States issue,but as the Saarland was then under French occupation,they are also regarded as occupation issues.The coins of the Saarland are very interesting in 2 respects - the same size as the French 4th Republic's coins,& they are the only German States coins that bear French privy marks to indicate that they were struck at Paris. Aidan.
Does anyone know what the inscription on the coins of the German Occupation of Russia translates to from German into English? The word 'OST' obviously translates to 'East'. Aidan.
"Gebiet des Oberbefelhabers OST" means something like "Area of the Supreme Commander East" or perhaps better something like "Area of the Supreme Commander of the East Zone". A "befelhaber" is a commanding officer, so the "Oberbefehlhaber" must be the supreme commander of the military forces there. bart
"Iron cross" coins are called in my country "osts". They were made for eastern territories including Poland, Lithuania, Latvija, Belarus and Ukraine. Known 1, 2, 3 kopeika coins, made of iron, 1916, mintmark J and A (as I remember Hamburg and Berlin). In banknotes - two value systems: roubles - corresponding to "osts" coins and marks, issued in Poznan. My country was occupied for many years: heres the list for occupation coinage for last 220 years: - Saxonian coins for Polish territories, end of the XVIIIth century; - Warsaw Duchy - under french protectorate during the Napoleonian wars; - Russian coinage for Congress Kingdom, about 1817 - max. 1852 (with old date 1840); - Republic of Cracow - only two coins; - iron cros coins in 1916; - German notes and iron coins for Kingdom of Poland 1917-1918; - German coins and notes for General Gouvernement 1939-1944; - coins and notes for Litzmanstadt (Lodz) Jewish Ghetto; - first Polish notes issued in Lublin in 1944 by Red Army. From another countries I can propose: - Ukrainian notes during WWII; - notes for Jewish Ghetto in Terezin (Terezienstadt), Czech Republic; - notes for POW camps in USA - example: Camp Davies close to NY; - coins and notes for Protectorate of Czech and Moravia; - German coins for occupied countries or puppet countries during WWII: Belgium, Netherlands, France, Vichy and others; - Red Army notes for: Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Austria (1944-1945); - Russian coins for occupied Wallahia and Moldova, issued by the times of Catherine II the Great; - "Alierte Militar Behorde" - Alliants notes for occupied Germany in 1944; - Japanese banknotes for Burma, Netherlands India and many others; - Italian leke coins for Albania (with Vittorio Emmanuel II). What do you think about it?
Right, "Oberbefehlshaber" is usually translated as "commander-in-chief", but I am not exactly familiar with military ranks and such. Those coins were issued by the Ostbank für Handel und Gewerbe in Kowno (Kaunas, Lithuania) and authorized for use, by that commander, in "his" territory - mainly Lithuania and Northern Poland. Here are some notes from those times: http://www.germannotes.com/faq_occupied_russia_ww1.shtml Posen (Poznan, PL) above, Kowno (Kaunas, LT) below. The German military in those regions had to use these notes and coins (which had a fixed Mark exchange rate), and no other cash when paying locals there ... Indeed, "A" was (and still is) the Berlin mint, and "J" is Hamburg. Christian
