OK, one of the reasons I became a coin collector is because I love history. One of the historical periods I find the most fascinating is the WWII period, especially in Europe. I have wanted to begin collecting and put together a set of German coins from the Third Reich period and the ensuing allied occupation of Germany. I was hoping someone could suggest some reading material about how to grade these coins...and if there is any books about there about collecting German coins from this era. I have the Krause World Coins of the 20th Century book...but that doesn't have a lot of specific information in it. Also, I have been looking for a source to purchase German coins and I have been unable to find a decent source. I would prefer to look at higher end coins...no lower than XF but I would really like BU examples of many of them. The first part of this process is to learn to grade the coins (hence my search for books), but I also need to find a dealer. The only online source I have been able to find is eBay and I'm afraid a lot of it appears to be cleaned junk. So, any help would be really appreciated. Thanks!
Since coins from Nazi Germany are apparently very popular in the US, I am sure that quite a few dealers there have some. If you don't come across what you want, you could also try Münzauktion http://www.muenzauktion.info/ or its web stores. While Münzauktion has auctions similar to eBay, the MA stores (of various dealers) have fixed prices. http://www.ma-shops.de/index.html?lang=en Click on "Third Reich" or "Allied occupation" ... Christian
OK, I will look through that. Thank You. I will need to learn to translate the grades, but I'm sure I can figure that out.
Does anyone know if there are any books specific to German coins from this era? Books covering...grading, strike quality, and such or has no such book been written.
The "standard" for German coins (1871-present) is the Jaeger (Die deutschen Münzen seit 1871), a German catalog. Then there is a new book by Hans L. Grabowski (Das Geld des Terrors) which focuses on coins and "ersatz money" in concentration camps and ghettos. Sorry, don't know about specialized English literature regarding such coins; maybe somebody else here can help ... Christian
