German Colonial Coinage

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by 01mikep, Oct 6, 2012.

  1. 01mikep

    01mikep Well-Known Member

    I enjoy collecting pre-WWI German coinage but do not come across alot of coinage minted for the German colonies. Certainly the most common I see are the East African Rupie and Heller but today I was able to pick up a nice New Guinea 1/2 Mark. I don't know how much of a collector base there is for German colonial coinage and I don't focus on it, but I do find it interesting. I'm still pretty happy with this 1/2 Mark. What I know about it is it is 90% silver with a mintage of about 16K and about the same size if not the same as a regular German 1/2 Mark. I will attach a couple photos for those interested. Please feel free to post other examples of colonial German coins and tell a little about them.

    MikeP

    1894 NG Obv.JPG 1894 NG Rev.JPG
     
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  3. Hiddendragon

    Hiddendragon World coin collector

    I don't have any like yours but this is the sort of thing I like. Coins from colonies are really interesting to me.
     
  4. rzage

    rzage What Goes Around Comes Around .

    Nice piece . I never knew the Germans controlled New Guinea as a colony .
     
  5. goldmark

    goldmark Active Member

  6. moneyer12

    moneyer12 i just love UK coins.......

    kiao chau 5 cents...........


    5-Cents.jpg 5-Cents-back.jpg
     
  7. 01mikep

    01mikep Well-Known Member

    I live in Germany and bought it here. Coin photography is not something I pretend to do well. The photo of the 1/2 mark was with an I-phone. I have compared the coin visually with all those available through the link that Goldmark provided (thanks). All details check out visually but I have not checked the weight yet.

    thanks,

    MikeP
     
  8. lettow

    lettow Senior Member

    [​IMG][​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG]

    Tokens from the SMS Konigsberg which supported the German Colonial Service and was sunk in the Rufiji Delta in German East Africa in WWI.
     
  9. jlblonde

    jlblonde Señor Member

  10. jlblonde

    jlblonde Señor Member

    German East Africa - 20 Heller - 1916 - Obv.jpg German East Africa - 20 Heller - 1916 - Rev.jpg

    Still unable to post more than two images. Weird.
     
  11. jlblonde

    jlblonde Señor Member

  12. 01mikep

    01mikep Well-Known Member

    I went to a jewelry store downtown this afternoon and has the coin weighed, along with a regular German 1/2 mark since that weight is known. The weight was:

    Neu Guinea 1/2 mark 2.77 grams. Krause gives 2.778
    German 1/2 mark 2.78 grams. Krause gives 2.777

    Everything checks out with this coin weight and diameter wise as well as all the visual cues are spot on. Let me know if there is anything else I should be looking for.

    Thanks

    MikeP
     
  13. goldmark

    goldmark Active Member

    That sounds good, luckily the 1/2 isn't as affected as the larger denominations with fakes to begin with.

    If you still want to be absolutely sure you can contact Mr. Franquinet who is an expert on this field, the other option is asking for more opinions on your coin by visiting a German coin forum which would also require more detailed pictures.

    Franquinet's website: http://www.franquinet.de/de/franquinet.htm?s=pv1nfhum1d764526mdj5193as5

    another example of a real 1/2 Mark Neu-Guinea:
    http://www.coinarchives.com/796d138a29cc9b577fd4ae30b41fbc8b/img/kunker/218/image06150.jpg

    also a Chinese faker on ebay (here the 2 Mark Neu-Guinea):
    http://www.ebay.de/itm/110835362204?nma=true&si=qadxzkiEIeHpH91I8b%2BTjs2961k%3D&rt=nc&_trksid=p4340.l2557&orig_cvip=true

    another fake, this time the 5 Mark
    http://www.ebay.de/itm/261000495884?nma=true&si=qadxzkiEIeHpH91I8b%2BTjs2961k%3D&rt=nc&_trksid=p4340.l2557&orig_cvip=true
     
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