An aluminum 20 marks token from the Lodz Ghetto, 1943

This is a coin that I've owned since the early 80's, purchased from a Canadian coin dealer who advertised in Coin World.

I would like you opinions on this coin or token. I have compared it with other examples posted online, and the the design elements seem similar, with the exception of smaller stars on the obverse. All the examples that I have seen online have larger stars.

The coin does have some scrapes and scratches, as would be expected with this soft metal. The overall color is a uniform grey.

4.88 grams



Thanks

 

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Might be a little underweight for the type.

 

Thanks.

I'm not sure what the weight standards for this denomination are. I did see online that the 5 marks and 10 marks were struck in aluminum and magnesium/aluminum alloy. Also the thickness of the flan affects weight.

I guess the only way to resolve the issue of authenticity is to send the coin in to PCGS or NGC and hope for the best.

 

It's a counterfeit.

 

Compare your coin with the genuine 20 mark.

 

Is the gap between the lines and stars indicative of a counterfeit?

 

Genuine coin weights about 6,95 - 6,99 grams. Op's coin weights 4,88 grams. A counterfeit coin looks completely different. This can be seen at first glance. For example compare the shape of letter U in word UBER.

 

Do you have weights for the other denominations? I have a group that I assume are fakes but would like to check them.

 

Sure, but the coins were minted on planchets of different thickness, so their weight varies. Also some counterfeits have the same weight as genuine coins. Just add a group photo of your coins and I will recognize fakes.

 

Thank you for the information. Technical information on these coins is hard to locate on the Internet.

Based on your information, I am inclined to agree that my coin is a fake. Actually the style of lettering between the two coins varies in many respects, and it appears that there were no die varieties.

Do you have the correct weight range for the 10 marks coin?

Thanks

 

Here's a group of 10 marks coins. All appear to be aluminum. The first one was purchased individually, while the rest came as a group lot purchased around 8 years ago.

1. 3.53 grams




The following coins, from the group lot all have varying degrees of oxidation, some corrosion, scratches and wear.

2. 2.55 grams (this coin appears to be a thinner flan compared to the others)




3. 3.37 grams




4. 3.44 grams




5. 3.50 grams




6. 3.52 grams




7. 3.35 grams




8. 3.48 grams




9. 3.44 grams



What do you think?

Thanks

 

Aluminium coins. All are genuine for sure.

 

Thank you.

Regarding the 20 marks coins, do you know of any that had an alloy of magnesium and aluminum, or were they all aluminum? I noticed that the alloy was used for some 10 marks coins, as mentioned on the CoinQuest page for the Lodz issues.

https://coinquest.com/cgi-bin/cq/coins.pl?coin=17552

Thanks

 

Photo of a fake 20 mark is published there

Coins minted in magnesium:
Both types of 10 pfennig
5 marks
10 marks

Coins minted in aluminium:
5 marks
10 marks
20 marks

 

Thanks

 

A few years ago I published a book about Lodz Ghetto money. This is the result of 12 years of research on this topic.

 

I will look for a copy.

Thank you so much for the information on these important objects of remembrance.

 

Sure, but it won't be easy. I published 100 copies and everything is already sold.
All the best!

 

If you have the files, you could consider print on demand. I wrote a children's book print on demand. There's little or no upfront cost. They just print a copy and mail it out when someone buys one, or if you want to sell them yourself you can order a certain number and you just pay the printing costs. Amazon and IngramSpark offer this service.

 

Thank you, but I'm not an Amazon user. A trusted, local printing house prints high-quality books for me.