German Invasion. . . of coins 1 1

[cobymordet]

I am cataloguing coins for my father and came across a few German coins that I would greatly appreciate some assistance with.  First up is a 1920 Germany (No MM/Zinc) Double Die Obverse coin.  "Pfennig" and "1920" are significantly doubled.  I would like to know if this DDO was common and if there would be any decent value considering the condition of the coin. 

[cobymordet]

here is another coin, same year as a comparison

[cobymordet]

I also came across this 1975-D W.Germany 2 Mark that has what seems to me to be unusually fat and raised lettering on the reverse side.

[cobymordet]

[cobymordet]

here is another for comparison.  This second coins' lettering is kinda chubby too, so I am guessing it was a common feature between 1970 - 1977, based on the 15-20 2 marks I have to  compare. 

[Coinbuf]

Some cool coins your father collected, I know nothing about world coinage so I cannot be of any help with these, but that 10 Pfennig sure looks interesting.

[cobymordet]

Yeah, I have processed 10K+ of my dad's collection and cried wolf on 100 us coins that I hoped (erroneously) were DD's.  Leave it to me to stumble on a 100yr old german coin to finally get my DD.  Do you know any campers through this forum that are versed in foreign/German coins?

[Coinbuf]

On 9/5/2023 at 3:44 PM, cobymordet said:

Yeah, I have processed 10K+ of my dad's collection and cried wolf on 100 us coins that I hoped (erroneously) were DD's.  Leave it to me to stumble on a 100yr old german coin to finally get my DD.  Do you know any campers through this forum that are versed in foreign/German coins?

I know @Jason Abshier is a collector of German coinage and @Fenntucky Mike is knowledgeable on world coins, hopefully one or both of those fellows can be of assistance.

[cobymordet]

Thanks Coinbuf, I will reach out to them both.

[Jason Abshier]

@cobymordet thanks for the message , I came on to answer what you have there … 

1st coin is a common( 10pfg) KM #26 after WW1 when Germany lost the war they went in hyper-inflation this was the main standard coinage at the time , all territories and towns of Germany, started making their own Notgeld coinage around that same time is another talk for another time 

2nd coin you have is KM# A127 (2 Deutche Mark) another common coin of German republic years I believe yours was a Commemorative type of coin issued around that time. 

if you’re not sure what I meant by “KM#” ? I’m going by the Krause catalog of world coins 

[cobymordet]

Jason, thank you for looking into these coins for me.  I was wondering if you have found any websites with adequate referential information regarding mint varieties/errors for German coins (in English, preferably).  Also, regarding the pictures of the 2 Mark pieces, I realize these are current era coins with limited upside, but the lettering seems extremely fat when compared to other 2 Mark coins I've looked at.  Any opinion on that?. 

[VKurtB]

On 9/6/2023 at 9:00 AM, cobymordet said:

Jason, thank you for looking into these coins for me.  I was wondering if you have found any websites with adequate referential information regarding mint varieties/errors for German coins (in English, preferably).  Also, regarding the pictures of the 2 Mark pieces, I realize these are current era coins with limited upside, but the lettering seems extremely fat when compared to other 2 Mark coins I've looked at.  Any opinion on that?. 

Try en.numista.com. 
 

Edited September 6, 2023 by VKurtB

[Jason Abshier]

On 9/6/2023 at 10:00 AM, cobymordet said:

Jason, thank you for looking into these coins for me.  I was wondering if you have found any websites with adequate referential information regarding mint varieties/errors for German coins (in English, preferably).  Also, regarding the pictures of the 2 Mark pieces, I realize these are current era coins with limited upside, but the lettering seems extremely fat when compared to other 2 Mark coins I've looked at.  Any opinion on that?. 

https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/germany-federal-republic-2-mark-km-a127-1970-1987-cuid-1129134-duid-1318019

@VKurtB gave a helpful link as well I use that site as well to study on certain world coinage 

I don't see anything unordinary about your coin other than it was honestly circulated like it was supposed to be used so it has some wear possibly id take guess by photo its in "very fine" condition grading is graded same way as US coinage for wear... Possibly later stage strike when dies were wearing out the die deterioration causing lettering to look thicker along with circulation wear (not sure if its the photo but it looks like DDD) what I call false doubling what we also call DDD pretty common on German coinage just same as it is with US coinage due to dies wearing out.

[cobymordet]

Kurt, thanks for the link!  Jason, thanks for the additional info.  I assumed that it was common based on the few examples I had to work with. My 70's tended to be thicker than my 80's.  Despite my assumptions, I prefer to defer to the experts.

[Jason Abshier]

@cobymordet I'm a far cry from an expert , nor will I ever be... I'm just a humble collector who studies a lot on what I collect....  there is types of 2 marks during that era they had KM# 124 (1969-1987) , then I see the one you posted in your picture KM# A127 (1970-1987) only difference I see is between the two is the bust of Theodor Heuss (the first president of the federal republic era) on the obverse of the coin...as for errors I see all kinds of german coinage with minting errors and planchet flaws, like off struck center , split planchet , lamination errors, "true" double dies and so on... some are worth some money only to a collector who collects that type of coin which is a very very small crowd (very small fraction compared to small crowd of hardcore US error collectors) ... So high marked up priced German error coins don't sell well most collectors overlook them 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Jason Abshier

[cobymordet]

Jason, no worries, the whole reason I am tripping through the numismatic bag of nuts is to help my father organize, catalogue, and inspect his and his fathers' 10's of thousands coins that they have hoarded for nearly 100 years.  Neither my father or grandfather were "collectors" in the sense that they learned the nuances of this hobby/obsession.  My father is 86 and he wants to sell what he can of his collection.  Because my father and grandfather hoarded any coin they could, by bank, mint, or through commerce change, I believe there is a higher chance of finding variety coins.  I am trying to go through his collection to help him realize more value in his collection than just the red/blue book.  On that note, TO BE CLEAR, for all of the campers that may read this post, I am not holding my breath for any "Holy Grail" coins, instead I am just crash-coursing as much information as possible to better equip myself to find any unique coin that has any added value.  Without this site and people like you and Kurt and every other enthusiast, my task would be tremendously more painful.  It is disheartening that there aren't more sites available to cater to all world coins, which to me, makes your knowledge a more valuable resource.  LOL, on that note, I will be posting a couple of German coins that almost look like proof coins.  Thanks again, I will message you tonight/tomorrow when I can get them scanned and posted.

[Conder101]

The first 10 pfennig is definitely a doubled die not die deterioration doubling.  As a general rule though error coins are not widely collected outside the US.  If it is cataloged it would probably be in a reference that was specific to Germany and published there for German collectors.

[Henri Charriere]

On 9/13/2023 at 10:35 PM, Conder101 said:

....  As a general rule though error coins are not widely collected outside the US....

Troo dat.

[Jason Abshier]

On 9/8/2023 at 4:16 PM, cobymordet said:

I will be posting a couple of German coins that almost look like proof coins.  Thanks again, I will message you tonight/tomorrow when I can get them scanned and posted.

I look forward to it , if you and your father plan sell some German coins I may be interested I'm working on proof high grades in 2 ,3, and 5 mark series for my collection

[cobymordet]

Sorry for the delay.  As far as my dad's coins are concerned, he collects primarily from circulation.  All the German coinage he has is modern (1949 - 1986) and conditionally speaking, most of it is not great.  I am a low-rent collector and my dad is a hoarder.  My father is selling what he can, but I imagine your endeavors exceed his stock.  I get coins from him 3-4 times a year to inspect and collate, so if I get something extraordinary or unique, I will hit you up for info.   Unfortunately I screwed the pooch on these pics, I miscalculated the side by side pics and gave up trying.  I picked up a 1980-F Proof set recently and I am leaning more toward these coins being proof like.

[cobymordet]

These two coins (5/2 Mark) have and mirror-like finish that none of the 500-700 German coins I have processed for him thus far have, but to have a proof coin in circulation is not impossible, but relatively unique, so I imagine they are proof-like.

[cobymordet]

On an off-topic note, this 1917 coin is cool to me.  Jason, you got any of these, hopefully in better shape...

[Jason Abshier]

On 9/23/2023 at 10:06 PM, cobymordet said:

On an off-topic note, this 1917 coin is cool to me.  Jason, you got any of these, hopefully in better shape...

Yes I’m working on German Notgeld Collection , however I’ll never be able to fully complete it ! I have a catalog book on German notgeld it’s 700 pages full of notgeld coinage …. Very interesting time in Germany after WW1 Germany went through hyper-inflation each territory (states) in Germany produced emergency money made of iron ,aluminum , porcelain, brass coinage …. Here’s few examples I bought within last few months for my notgeld collections … they are pretty difficult sometimes to find in Gem condition mark free the iron and aluminum easily corrodes… I’ll have look your’s up in my book see what territory it came from when I get the time … right now I’ve been busy with work lately , I have other examples of notgeld coinage in my collection as well mostly high grades 

[cobymordet]

Those are nice netgeld coins.  I would love to get a porcelain coin.  That is why I prefer to play with foreign coins, so much more variety and uniqueness.  

 

My zinc nasty is: 20 Pfennig - Neustadt an der Haardt (4pt star)

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces64807.html

 

[Conder101]

Notgeld can be interesting.  I just collect the metal municipal issues.  No porcelain, or private issues.  I have over 1,800 different pieces from over 600 municipalities.  But most of mine are nowhere near as nice as the ones posted here.  One of my favorites is the Westphalia issues.  I have all but one of the varieties and I have both varieties of the 1 billion mark pieces (Huge coins, 60 mm in diameter)  Most of them use the same design.