I was revisiting my German 5 and 10 pfennings today and found these stunners. Both with very nice mint luster. Not sure how I didn't notice these when I got the collection a couple years ago. I looked up the 1900 J in Krause and was shocked and confused. Does anyone know why the book value for the 1900 J would be 20x's as much as similar years and mint marks? It is not due to mintage, as this one is 5.5 million. Although, I couldn't find one anywhere near this grade and eye appeal. Please enlighten me. This one is also a stunner: Not uncirculated, but still a nice early one. Comments? Concerns? I actively collect other German series, but not 10 Pfennig, so if anyone wants to drop some knowledge on me, go for it. Thanks, greg
Yes, that year/mintmark combination (1900 J) is quite expensive in "non-circulation" grades. Regular pieces can of course be had for one-digit amounts. As for the reasons, I can only guess. While we know how many of these were minted in Hamburg back then (5.72 million), how many actually "survived" the past 100+ years, including two wars in the first half of the previous century, is not known. In other words, take those mintage figures as a rough guideline only ... Christian
Thanks for the reply Christian, It is curious. I understand that with some U.S. Coins, higher mintage ones are more valuable due to the populations in the TPG's and a better understanding of how many survived and certain events (large melts, etc..) that may have drastically reduced the surviving coins. I assume with the foreign coins, this isn't an accurate reason since it seems most foreign collectors to do not have their coins certified. Trust me, I am not complaining! At first I thought it was a misprint in the Krausse book. -greg
