He died in '34 the coin is dated '36. I am not sure if there were previous years of this obverse (when he was still alive). From what I have read he hated Hitler, but was forced to install him to power. This maybe revisionists history but what I have read. Used to refer to him as the little corporal
Forced? Nah. Pushed to some extent maybe, but that's about it. In fact many places here in Germany that still had streets named after Hindenburg have renamed them (they actually had a referendum about that in Münster, NW) or are at least discussing that ... As for the date, yes, Hindenburg died in 1934. But the coin was minted (with two different eagle sides) as a circulation piece between 1935 and 1939. The one with swastika is more common. Christian
I would give him a little break myself. Hindsight is 20/20, but how do you ignore the person who won by far the most votes inna popular election and still pretend a democracy? I am sure if he could foresee history he wouldn't have, but I am guessing Hindenburg thought he could manage Hitler, and he probably would get voted out. Most people do not foresee their own deaths.
Well, Hindenburg was perfectly OK with Papen's plans to give the democratic parliamentary system a "break". I am sure he did not expect anything like WW2 and the Holocaust, but for him democracy was definitely overrated. So for the nazis it made sense to put Hindenburg on those coins, and not just one a one-time commem ... Christian
Here is the swaztika symbol on first coin struck 625BC! I got this from CNG auction. EL Hemihekte 1/12 Stater) Ionia/ Asia Minor (unknown mint city/ruler) circa 625-600BC obv. swastika rev. incuse punch However the notorious hammer and sickle (Communist symbol) accounted for 200 million deaths in the 20th century under Marxist tyrannical regimes in China/ Russia/ Cambodia/ North Korea