Does anyone own an original of the 1927 Bremmerhaven 3 Mark? A coin in fairly high grade who would be willing to share detailed high resolution photos.
I am asking because about a year ago (or more) I authenticated and priced for purchase a large collection of foreign coins including a German Type set of Weimar Republic coins. The individual coins in the Weimar group were all in very high grades. They were all there. It was an impressive set.
Well, the two 1927 Bremmerhaven coins the KM 50 and 51 were included in MS grades. The 5 Mark was particularly high grade (MS-63 or better) and it drew my attention immediately because I had never encountered a coin in this grade. Its buddy the 3 Mark was slightly lower (Ms 62 or possibly even a slider grade) but brilliant with nice luster never-the-less. I did have suspicions about both coins because the die work on each was slightly more crude than I would have expected out of the Berlin mint in 1927. The 3 Mark showed signs of a repaired clash which caused rather deep lapping of the original die and it necessitated some re-engraving of some central elements of the design. But the remaining detail from the original die also looked like it was NOT hubbed but was rather engraved - at least for the central design elements.
I expressed my reservations to the owner and buyer but since there were almost no forgeries in the balance of the collection the sale was concluded and the new owner chose to sell all of the coins as real including the two Bremmerhaven coins.
As indicated above both 1927 coins shared some of the same crude traits on the original die work (over cut line segments - engraving of central elements of the Ship. There were also positioning tic marks - die cracking and slight orange peel erosion.) Both dies looked overworked and late state. But having two such similar coins made using identical techniques led me to conclude that they were either BOTH original or both fake.
Well the 3 Mark has finally come back as a Counterfeit but the 5 Mark was accepted as original. They were both sold to different owners (the 3 mark changed hands a couple times) and they were submitted at different times for authentication.
The original buyer has now finally come back on the original dealer and wants his money back. The dealer stands behind all his sales so the money was returned, but now the dealer has come to me with a HOW COME? question.
I can post pictures of this coin (it is in my possession) but what I really need to know is how the dies for this particular commemorative were made. Was the ship engraved on each die? Was there more than one 3 Mark die?
I wonder about hand engraving of individual dies because most commemorative dies with low mintages are not usually made from a Hub. I want to confirm how the dies were made and if possible compare the tiny details on this coin with a known original.
Posted 01/08/2011 6:23 pm
