1772 A German States Bavaria 20 Kreuzer KM#250 Scratched a couple centuries ago, now in retirement Found this puppy in the ‘junk’ box at the LCS Maybe I could buff it out. Lol
Based on what you've described in the past @furryfrog02, I have a feeling I visited that particular store when I last visited the D.C. area a few years ago. They had a bad selection, to say the least. Edit: That's a nice find, by the way, @Heavymetal.
Well, that's not the store I went to. The one I visited was in Annapolis; I don't know if they're even in business anymore, but the foreign coin box there was quite dismal, and they priced their foreign silver well over melt-value.
He bought out a couple other shops last year.. If it’s not 90% or gold, it goes it the box. I’m fairly observant
I'm just really bitter haha. I've had some luck at shows but lord knows it's been forever since one of those has happened.
So it seems this kind of disfigurement of the Madonna and Child was commonly used to show hostility towards ?? The Pope? Christianity? Common on 1772,1773,1774 reverses A little help friends
Hard to be sure, but some hardline Protestants considered the veneration on the Virgin Mary to be a form of idolatry back in the day. I was told in Japanese history class that the Japanese authorities when the country was mostly closed to foreigners in the Edo Period would make Dutch traders stomp on a portrait of the Virgin Mary to be allowed to enter the port and trade. Most of their earlier experience had been with the Catholic Portuguese, who the Shogun regarded as a threat. The Protestant Dutch traders were mostly indifferent to this demand and willing to do whatever was necessary to make a buck (or a Guilder, as the case may have been).
Those might be adjustment marks rather than scratches. Commonly found in some german states issues to ensure coin was within weight tolerance.
Adjustment marks makes more sense, as the scratches go all the way to the edge, as if scraped with a file. Usually if a coin is intentionally defaced, the results are pretty unambiguous that somebody bore a grudge. I didn't know German coins had adjustment marks commonly. I thought of them as mostly a French thing. Thanks. Below: Someone didn't like Napoleon
