German Coins: 1933-1948

Huh? Zaggy? Thats Me! What can I do help? Firstly, I've been a bit slow to reply due to the fact that its that time of the year; Assignments due, Code to be written, Exams and Presentation of this semesters Major Work... So, after I finish this last report, I can get back into the REAL mission of Third Reich Numismatic research and working on that paper!

Now, I'll start by steering well clear of the Politics here :)... My interest in this period is for the reason that there is very little out there about it, a number of weird little mysteries and a lot of falicies and half-truths!

To me, Kuenker have been very helpful (they've sent me the odd thing); I must admit I havent seen the part of the site that states they're not interested in Third Reich pieces, but they regularly sell quite a few higher grade examples (Luthers, Schillers, Potsdam mit Datum, the really low mintage nominals, the odd PP Silver 2/5RM and Probens). So if the site says that, I must suggest they're talking about bulk lots or something?

Still, Kuenker would be a good place to look for high grade, hard to find things (1939G 1RM, Luther Mule, the less common RKK Mzz/jahrs). http://www.kuenker.de

Franquinet is also a good place to look for premium coins, http://www.franquinet.de - Guy seems to trade in the higher end of the market, but he is VERY knowledgable, so when you want to find a rarity and want it to be GENUINE, he's the man to see... I've bought stuff off him in the past, and while payment was a bit of a mission (because I don;t have a Credit Card that worked in Germany!), his service is great.

Now, these two places are definately the higher end of town, so if the budget doesn't stretch or your after the odd bargain, try Luke - http://www.luckylukeonline.com/

Luke specialises in Third Reich pieces for the American Market, and while he may not carry all of the premium rarities at all times (Say you want that 1939G 1RM, It might take him a while to find you a good one), he does supply really good coins around the XF-aUNC for most types - I've bought ALOT of Luke, so I can personally vouch for him too...

next is ebay - full of overpriced coins! Third Reich coins are (in general) NOT RARE; the allies did not 'round them all up and destroy them' as people will try and tell you, and the 1945 Russian (and later Allied Proclamation Nr.2) effort to require all Gold and Silver coins to be turned in was a complete failure! WELL over 70% of the Silver coins minted under the Third Reich were unaccounted for after the war; so there are a LOT of them out there!

And now, last piece of advice, unless we have specific questions is; BU?!?! You're very keen! Thats going to cost you $$$... For the silver pieces, I'd be more interested in aiming for EF, trying to get EF+ where you can (for reasonable $$$) but settling for VF on those hard to get pieces - its the way I've gone.

Also, learn what Wert/Jahr/Mzz are the rare ones - Like I picked up a EF 1945E 10Rpf for a BARGAIN the other day - as bargains can be had; so go find yourself a recent copy of Jaeger - Die deutschen Muenzen seit 1871 or Schoen's deutcher Muenzkatalog if you have trouble with the Jaeger... I've found very little use for the Krause with the exception of the Proben illustrations.

There should be plenty of info just about the coins - like designs, approx mintages (research has shown some of these figures to be wrong :), years, but deeper info is very hard to find!

As for BU's, it really depends on the types - some of the Silver Coins seem to show up in BU, but thats still a tall order - Zinc's, forget it! Most of these have gone dark grey long ago! Surprisingly, the Copper 1Rpf and 2Rpf tend to be the easiest (and cheapest) to find with some genuine mint-bloom - you can even occationally find these in lots! I've got a few nicer 1Rpf's.

Also, the Nickel 50Rpf and 1RM wear REALLY well... While Nickel is softer than Coining Silver, the shallower design or lighter weight or something, protects these coins - most of them in grades better than VF look great, however, these are also some of the rarest types (Nickel was recalled in 1940 for use in weapons production; with about a 90% success rate); Third Reich Nickel 50Rpf (both the Weimarer design J.324 and Third Reich J.368) are going to cost you... So will 1939 1RM's as large numbers never really made it into circulation - they went from the mints to the Reichsbanks (so the mints could get paid) then straight to the smelts!

I collect German Nazi coins and have found this seller to be very good with higher grades.

He will even try and find what you want if you give him a list.

http://stores.ebay.com/Sebas-Coins-and-Notes

I've never bought from Seba, but I definitely have noticed him :) Seem to always have good stock and good selection of Key Jahr/Mzz in decent grades... And he has been helpful in the past; but I've only emailed him once or twice. I PERSONALLY feel his prices are a bit on the HIGH side, BUT remember that the Australian Dollar has slipped to US$0.66 (was as High as US$0.90 at one point, so I was buying LOTS :) and below US$0.60, so I stopped buying!); so you buying is USD should get decent prices...

Now as for a guide to grades... Your search term should be 'Erhaltungsgrade', which roughly translates to Preservation Grade...

Now, I'm going to give this a bit of a go, BUT this is merely a GUIDE!
- PP = Polierte Platte (Polished Plate) - finely frosted relief, full lustre -> Basically a Proof
- Stgl. = Stempelglanz (Stamp Gloss) - no discernible signs of wear to the coin or the edge, lets call this Gem UNC
- Stfr. = Stempelfrisch (Stamp Fresh) - no major signs of wear, minimal defects to the edges and faces due to processing, also UNC
- vz = vorzüglich (excellent) - The coin design is all still intact, slightest signs wear - EF
- ss = sehr schön (very nice) - Normal wear associated with Circulation, no major damage, scratches or rim dents - VF
- s = schön (nice) - above average wear and tear, all inscriptions, Jahr and Mzz are still legible - F


There are also the 'halfway' grades;
- f.xx (f for FAST), eg f.ss means ALMOST-ss, or f.stgl, almost-stgl
- xx+ (+ for, well PLUS), eg ss+ means a bit better than ss

And like many other grading formats, we can also have each side graded differently, such as 'ss/vz' on the format 'Obv/Rev' - in general, the Adler/Reichsadler/Hoheitsziechen is the Reverse (Rs or Rückseite - Obverse is Vs or Vorderseite)...

Other standard abbreviations:

Rf. = Randfehler (Rand or Edge Error)
Sf. = Schrötlingsfehler (Planchet Error)
Mzz = Münzzeichen (Mintmark)
o.Mzz = ohne Münzzeichen (without Mintmark)
Rd. = Rand (Edge)
Vs. = Vorderseite (Front Side - Obverse)
Rs. = Rückseite (Back Side - Reverse)
J. or J.Nr = Jaeger Nummer (Jaeger Number - the way German coins are catalogued - forget about you Krause! :)

And finally, this may also help - yes its Swiss, but they seem to use the same grading schema as the German's - http://www.swissmint.ch/upload/_pdf...htlinien.pdf

And also have a look at this - you can translate it further with Google Translate, but the matrix is pretty self explanatory - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polierte_Platte

I will assume all is good... :)

Any more German Third Reich Questions?

I did try and keep it short... :)

BUT, as someone based in Germany, collecting German coins, how does my interpretations of the grades and my translations of 'key terms' sound? If anything isn't quite right, feel free to correct me! :)

Danke Christian :)

You're right about Spiegelglanz (Mirror Gloss); should have included that one... That said, its one that very rarely pops up in my travels (I have a small number of BRD Proof Sets), being more focused on Reich stuff...

As for translating them to German before relating them to an American Grade, well, why not :) Kind of helps to understand the grade a bit better and just makes things interesting - plus its just more translating practice (God knows I need it! :)

Cheers Christian...

I understand about the finals... Sat mine about a month ago - and maintained my HD GPA :)