Moral Dilemma

I don't know, to be honest. I've heard conflicting comments on the subject before, and I will be the first to admit I don't know what the actual laws are. I think that the ebay issue is more or less a matter of policy than law.
A German fellow told me that there are no such laws about public display, it's just that most people see it as poor taste or offensive.

Good discussion and good points raised. The fact that it is a gift is of no consequence. I've explained the situation to my girlfriend, and she has agreed to waive any and all "penalties" for not wanting it as a gift should I decide to rid myself of it.

My understanding of the law is hazy at best. I know that ebay will not allow items bearing the swastika to be sold in many european countries including france, germany and austria. Whether or not this rule is adhered to is another story.

I agree with the comment Rick made, that a collection should reflect your personal taste, hence the mixed feelings. The history buff and coin collector in me says to keep it, but I feel displaying such an item would be in poor taste. I'll think it over a while longer.

What I do know, is this is my girlfriends LAST trip to Florida. This isn't the only problem that has arisen from the trip... there was an incident regarding our joint account and a shopping mall...

heck I just wish I could read them auctions

Sometimes I feel that people are taking it too far in verifying that it is "blood-free". Think about it, in the past, men have fought war over anything, which includes natural resources. Chances that foreign coins would be melted down, which could have been stolen, taken by force, etc, and to be reused in another coinage is very likely.

Now, how can you guarantee that a particular coin that you have have absolutely zero traces of blood in it, especially when it comes to precious metals like gold?

We have had this discussion just recently, in this thread.

General consensus is that collecting them is OK, as long as the reason you're doing so is not idolizing the Nazis or wishing for a return to the "good old days" of Nazi rule.

Society certainly shouldn't attempt to hide their existence, lest the history be lost and future generations start to take the attitude, "well, the Nazis weren't all that bad, were they?".

Interesting Mark,
I had the same question a while back.
https://goccf.com/t/4331&SearchTerms=nazi,coin
I've ended up buying one,just because I wanted to see it "in person",but I still have mixed feelings about it.

I understand your views and respect your wishes, congradulations on the slight change in opionion and also for sticking to the root of your believes at the same time. that is comendable

Reichmark coins date back to 1924, with the establishment of a stable currency after the inflation period and the rentenmark issues. The issues of 1870-1923 were also reichmark issues. Only the issues of Hitler, after 1936 (He was in power earlier) to 1945 have the swastika on them. This symbol is also found on coins and tokens of India of many periods. To me it is history, and I would not collect something just because there was something bad happening- for example wars were a world-wide occurance. I collect the Chinese coins of the Mongal Yuan dynasty, even though they were ruthless in destroying cities which defied their armies. I would not stop collecting US coins just because there were horrible incidents in Viet Nam, for example, or Russian coins just because people were sent to Siberia, or the population of the Ukraine was decimated, for example. They can remind us of what happened, in the hopes that it will not happen again.