German East Africa Tabora Mint Emergency Coinage 20 Heller: what to look for

Hi-

I’m looking to get a German East Africa 20 Heller piece from the WW1 era Tabora mint emergency coinage issue. Any advice on what to look for so as to avoid fakes? Thanks!

 

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Here is some info. I do not have any idea if these are faked or not. It surly is possible. You are doing your research by asking. Find as many photos as possible and study them. Interesting Coin.
https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide...-heller-km-15a-1916-cuid-1128047-duid-1332363

 

These coins come in several different varieties, with the most common types being available for $20 or less for decent examples. Almost all are weakly struck on crude planchets, so even Unc/AU examples can look VF.

I have never seen a fake one, but I suppose someone could try to fake the rare and scarcer varieties. If you are just looking to get one for the type, then look for what Krause calls B-obverse, B-reverse in brass. The B-obverse stands for the "little crown" and the B-reverse stand for 2 pointed L's on "HELLER" (as opposed to A-rev, 1 curled L and C-rev, 2 curled L's). Nice copper versions look great, but the brass is a lot more common (5 to 1? 10 to 1?).

Here are a couple of average/typical ones I had a few years ago. Brass first, copper next, both B/B.

 

For what it is worth, here is an "A" obverse (Large crown):

Here is an "A" reverse (one curled L and one broken tip L):

And here is the "C" reverse (2 curled L's)--all with this reverse are fairly scarce to rare:

 

Here is another example. I have no reason to doubt the authenticity.