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 Replies: 31 / Views: 12,843 |
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Valued Member
United States
364 Posts |
I wanted to see what you guys thought of this. I have a 1935 German Silver Dollar I keep simply because I'm a history nerd, and this coin has the distinctive signs of the rise of Hitler's Third Reich upon it.
I have other WWII coins as well.
But I see these auctions on E-bay and the like where the silver content of Germany's WWII-era coins is put out there for the potential bidders, and I'm always left thinking if it is ethical to consider the melt value at all.
Is it possible the Nazi government at the time took some of this silver from the oppressed? If we then buy these coins for the bullion content, doesn't that risk us becoming like those that buy conflict diamonds?
To be safe, this particular dollar is all I own, and the other coins I pick up from Nazi Germany will only be copper or other base metals until I find out otherwise.
But it got me thinking: is it ethical to purchase coins as an investment when the origin of the metal might be questionable?
Of course, I want an 8 Reale piece as well, and we know a lot of Spanish silver was bought with Central American native blood...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
I believe you'll find that opinions vary by individual in accordance with their personal definition of unethical. As for me, I do not find purchasing such items to be "wrong in conduct" to use the wording in come definitions of unethical. I believe it's history. New owners of said items can preserve or melt as they see fit as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I'm guessing some metals used in US coinage came from Native American lands. BTW, I am of Polish descent with relatives being in Poland in 1939 and an uncle was vaporized off the coast of North Africa in a dive bomb attack in 1944. Thus, my family is well aware of some impacts of being on the wrong end of German aggression at the time. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3592 Posts |
I am one that believes I am only responsible for my own actions...not for the actions of my relatives or ancestors.That being said, I think keeping history alive is very important regardless of whether it was good or bad. Maybe more so if it was bad, just so that we remain vigilant and alert as to it's causes.
If we decide it is politically incorrect to collect Nazi coins, we would need to further investigate all historic relics, especially when it relates to gold and silver.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
A great deal of the gold and silver (and probably many other things) can trace back to oppression somewhere. So you either have to give up everything, or just try to avoid buying or using things that benefit the current oppressors. Avoiding the purchase of a Nazi era silver coin today does not help the holocaust victim the silver was taken from, nor does it support the Nazi administration which is long dead. The silver in that coin is going to exist no matter what form it is in so even melted down it may still silver taken from holocaust victims (Although a great deal of treasure was looted from occupied areas, not just the victims of the holocaust. If it is looted from non-jews is it OK?) At least in its current form it IS still a reminder of history that can make you think about what the Nazis did. Would it make it better to melt it down and make silver eagles out of it?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4000 Posts |
Interesting topic and responses so far. A lot of you know I have been collecting for about a year now. So my knowledge on US coins is limited, much less the world. About a month ago, a guy brought in a bunch of world war II era coins and I was looking at them, I wondered about this very thing. I didn't say anything about it at all because they were handed down to him by his father. I don't know if they were souvenirs or what. But, all kinds of thoughts and emotions crossed my mind as I held them. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4989 Posts |
I wouldn't personally collect it but I don't see any moral issues it is all just history now.
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
I hope you don't collect Morgan dollars with the O mint mark.....The vast majority of the silver in those coins didn't come from the Comstock Lode....There was a reason why a branch mint was created in that major port. If you try to drag ethics into the collecting of money, your conscience will eat away at your collection til you've nothing left. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3278 Posts |
I have a bunch of foreign coins, many which are German, that my grandfather broight home from Europe,
that he collected while fighting for our freedom and the freedom of the planet durning WWII.
He was seriously wounded on 2 occasions while over there, and is one of many American heroes from that era.
Someday I'll get them photographed and share them with you all.
My point is, those coins are very important to me, because they are now in the hands of a proud American
and our modern coins do not have a picture of hitler on them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
It is a coin. That is all it is. Do not ponder the path that the metal content has taken since being plucked from the earth. It is not the metals fault. How was the copper, nickle, zinc and other metals in other coins obtained? Who was murdered and pushed from their ancestral lands right here in the United States in order to obtain the gold used to make U.S. gold coinage?
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
I can see no moral or ethical problem with collecting most objects, even if they are symbolic (all coins are symbolic of various things, some of which I'd rather not consider). I have a number of German coins that depict swastikas, but then I don't kiss a Nazi flag, shave my head, wear jackboots, or worship Hitler, either. And I'm not going to start collecting shrunken heads or other objects which demean people. However, if anything with a modern swastika on it bothers you, don't collect it. Simple as that. It's your choice, and unless you use it to demean others, it's also your personal business and no one else's.
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Valued Member
United States
408 Posts |
I own Nazi coins from the world war II era and don't have any quilt feelings in owning them. They are coins to be collected and held for their historic value.
They are not indicative of my beliefs. Its coin collecting not a moral statement.
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Valued Member
United States
64 Posts |
I don't have any problem with anyone else having them- they are just too creepy for me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
573 Posts |
The last few weeks I've been going through my dad's stamp collection that I inherited years ago. He had a number of world stamps including a few with Hitler on them. I also found some German stamps from the early 1920s. They were printed as 200 Mark stamps and overprinted with 30 thousand, 1 million, 2 million and 5 million Marks. In short, hyperinflation in Germany brought down that country, making it ripe for Hitler to take over. Then in a catalog I found a picture of a stamp from Austria that had a skeleton hand pulling off Hitler's face from a skull with the words "Never forget". Since then I've been contemplating the value (not worth) of items like these. I think their greatest value was printed on the Austrian stamp - never forget. So I've been thinking about how to display the overprinted stamps, maybe with a Silver certificate (backed by real silver  ) and a Federal Reserve Note (backed by the full faith and honor of the United States government  ). I think items like these can be used to honor the people who suffered under these regimes, and the men and women who fought against and defeated them. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
I was intrigued when I discovered that the Boy Scouts of America used the swastika symbol on many of their tokens and badges in the early 1900's. Back then it was a good luck symbol before the Nazi party adopted the same.
When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2448 Posts |
The swastika is also used in American Indian Culture and can be traced back to the Tigris Euphrates River valley. It's been so long ago that I read about it, I can't remember the reference.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2605 Posts |
If you think about it most of the humankind history was (still is) bloody. Most of the time any accumulation of wealth happens by exploiting/oppressing someone else.
The coins from darker periods of human existence, along with other artifacts, should be preserved to keep the memory and not to repeat the mistakes.
There will always be people who collect/preserve them with an open mind/heart, for the love of the hobby, and there always will be people who just try to make a buck on it.
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Replies: 31 / Views: 12,843 |
Posted 12/10/2010 2:28 pm
