An Interesting Austrian Coin Overstruck Coin Over Nazi Coin

And such a "ex post facto" referendum is pretty much a farce anyway. What I wanted to say is that the German pressure, with regard to Austria, was different from the later attack on Poland for example. But my primary point was that 1 Rpf tidbit anyway. :) Don't think that coins "below" 10 Groschen were still used in AT in the late 90s, but it would have been amusing to pay some debt (legal tender concept) with swastika pfennigs ...

Oh, and I forgot to write that in the November 1947 currency reform, 3 old schillings became 1 "new" schilling. But you will know that, and those who don't might have figured out what I intended to write, hehe.

Christian

I suspect very few Austrians would have noticed or even thought about it. Vienna and other places had been severely damaged and most people would have been more focused on rebuilding and getting over the shock/shame of the "discovery" of how extreme the ethnic cleansing( the holocaust) had been. {Although a significant number were in the know}

I believe Austria didn't actually exist(again) as a country until 1952( or was it 1951)

philadelphian - interesting way to put a political metaphor. I like it. chrisild, austrokiwi - thanks for sharing some history aspect. Can't be well versed in every single world history.

I still have an impression that while Austrians may have been busy rebuilding the country, a lot of Nazi related coinage would have been removed followed by clearer examples of overstrikes. On top of that, the convertion to the Euros meant that a lot more coins would have been destoryed.

The reason why I knew about this type of coin is because I remember seeing an auction that sold a nice clear overstrike which went for moon money. While there may not be a catalog value of such overstruck coin - it comes down to how clear the underlayer host is as well as how much a buyer is willing to pay as well as how much a seller is willing to sell it for. I know I am willing to pay a fair amount if I can find a decent set.

Now why do I think that ebay's prices for "standard" Austrian coins will go up because of this thread?

May very well be that the worst pieces, swastika remainder wise, were destroyed once a coin made it back to the banking system. However, keep in mind that these 10 Groschen coins, first issued in 1947, were replaced by the aluminum pieces in 1951. The old zinc coins stayed in circulation until June 1959 and could be exchanged until the end of Oct'59. Only the aluminum 10 Groschen coins could be used until the euro cash changeover, and can still be redeemed.

Side note: The zinc 5 Gr coins were not affected by the composition/design change, and are redeemable "forever". But the mint stopped making them for circulation in 1992; due to their low value, they were not really used in everyday life any more.

Christian

Found one..

It's a 1949 10 Groschen.. I almost sold it for €0,10 when I remembered this topic and took a closer look with my loupe..

Could be wrong, but I think they point at the "e", the "s" and the "R" of "Deutsches Reich".

Christian

Sure a cool piece. :) Cannot really comment on the possible value, but it was a good idea to not give it away at that (10 ct) price, hehe.

Christian

good find