Were Many or Most Nazi silver coins melted down?

Maybe it's just me, but from the few days I've looked for Third Reich silver coins, it's been more difficult than not to find high grade coins. Most of what I've seen are below AU, and most of the "AU" coins are riddled with deep-ish scratches and dents, or are problem coins. I'm referring to mid to late 1930s 5 Mark silver coins.

I can envision those coins getting melted down, but I'm not sure if it happened to the scale I'm imagining. Or, perhaps they were often defaced on a person to person basis. In any case, wouldn't high grade silver Third Reich 5 Mark coins be under-priced? Maybe there are plenty available, and I simply haven't paid attention long enough.

Thanks in advance!

 

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I have noticed on Ebay the higher the grade the higher the price. some MS grades get crazy high money on Ebay.

 

Isn't that the same with all coins?

 

Many were melted down. I have a small collection of the 5 Reichsmark with the swastika and i feel like I either see them for great prices or crazy sums! I don't remember the source for this off hand, but someone sent me some info on how they are still being melted down to this day

 

Yeah most of the high grade ones are slabbed, and they're hard to find in high grade raw at the price NGC suggests. I think I lucked out though. I'll post pics somewhere on this forum when I get that one in.

 

It seems a lot of them are still around , though not too many in Germany as I thought anything with the swastika is illegal there . Unless they are allowed for collectors . Does anyone know ?

 

Have you tried ebay.de? I saw a few that were not insanely out of line with NGC's guide.

 

Here's one from Germany with the swastika (there are several others I believe):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Mark-1936...075388?hash=item3d0eb9fe7c:g:BHwAAOSwwPhWl4~l

 

I should probably go to the country specific eBay site for the respective world coin I'm looking to buy. But, I usually find non-US sellers on the .com site. But, I think I scored a nice one today at below market value - at least AU to low MS60s by the looks of it.

 

Frankly an awful lot of them were looted after WWII, they had been out of circulation since the start of the war in 1939. Many many Soviet, British, and American soldiers took them home as souvenirs. My uncle brought some home, gave them to a relative who took them and the rest of the Nazi stuff and dragged to the curb for trash collection.

 

Guess they're allowed as collectibles in Germany , thanks .

 

that 1 looks cleaned to its death. 1/2 price for sure.

 

not really in all world coins. these particular 5 marks ones do.

 

As you will have learned by now, it is perfectly legal to buy, sell and collect them here. And according to the Jaeger catalog, 76% of the 2 and 5 RM coins had not been turned in by December 1944. No idea how many are still around.

Christian

 

From reading non-fiction novels of life in Germany during that time I have seen several accounts of people that saved the silver coins when the war started - just like people everywhere hoard precious metal when conflict begins. In "A Woman in Berlin" by Marta Hillers she recounted having saved several of the 3RM and 5 RM coins from the early 1930s that were then stolen by Soviet soldiers when they entered Berlin in May 1945. A lot of people's little hoards of coins were likely taken as souvenirs.

 

Also destroyed in the bombings/fighting

 

Yes, quite a few did that, although at some point it did not help much. Especially in the years between the end of WW2 and the '48 currency reform, silver and gold could not buy you much. But maybe people thought it would be worth something at a later point. Officially it was illegal, in Germany during the Allied occupation and control years (1945-55), to own gold or silver - or rather it could be confiscated without compensation. Practically those regulations had hardly any effect.

While I have a few nazi coins just as I have earlier and later German coins, I do not focus on such pieces. Unlike many of the Weimar Republic coins, they are fairly easy to get and not expensive, and I have them by type, not year, let alone mint mark.

Christian

 

so, in some instances, the lower grades cost more than uncs?

Interesting.

Even with the 1950 D Jeff which is scarcer in circ it is more in unc

 

I' ve bought a hoard from an elderly woman from Germany in 2011. Altogether 335 5 Mark coins, fairly divided in Swastika, Hindenburg and Garrison church pieces. About 10 percent were in MS condition. The other pieces were cleaned, scratched and below AU.
Maybe I send the best pieces to NGC one day....
MS 63 and better grades are rare....

 

Just a little history that might help you from where I sit.

I was stationed in Germany (Bavaria) back in the early 90's. On our days off, we would look for and hit the German flea markets. We were looking for WWII Nazi memorabilia, coins, currency, military equipment/insignias/medals, etc.. items with swastika's. Back then it wasn't outlawed or illegal (not sure how it is today) but it was definitely verboten! All items with swastika's were covered up and not displayed prominently. Those items were under the tables, in the back or out of view....those were the items we were looking for. We would point to the covered up items, they knew exactly what we were looking for. The German sellers knew we were Americans and you could definitely tell by their attitude and body language that they were not happy or comfortable selling us those items....ever though they were making money. We grabbed as much of that stuff as we could afford.