SILVERFINGER

Austria made these circulating commemorative silver coins from 1928 to 1938 when the Third Reich took over Austria and replaced their currency with the German Reichsmark, most were handed in to be melted down so there must be far less than the small amounts that were minted each year, all these coins were minted from .640 silver, and a new design was released each year and for one year only.
The coins are all a good size, slightly bigger and heavier than a UK 50p, the circular shield design was used until 1934 when replaced by the two headed eagle, the circular shield was re-instated after the war.

From left to right the coins are,
1931 release
2 Schillings 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart the musical writer and composer who died young at 31, and celebrates 175 years since his birth.
Production of 500,000

1933 release
2 Schillings
This one features Catholic priest and politician Dr Ignaz Seipal, and his death in late 1932 at the age of 56 when assassinated by a socialist, the coin was not released until early 1933 though.
Production of 400,000,  this is one of the rarer and more valuable of the coins.

1936 release
2 Schillings
This coin celebrates the 200 year anniversary of the death of Prince Eugen of Savoy, who was a French Prince who moved to Austria when his mother did something naughty, he transferred his loyalty to the holy roman empire and became a field marshal, he took part in many battles his most well known was the defeat of the Ottomans in 1687.
Production of 500,000
 


 
Sitting nicely with the others, just the 1932, 1934 and 1935 to get now in the era I collect.
 

 

Thanks guys you both got me wet now, beautiful coins, I am waiting for a trio from an auction just hope they are good, or even just one of them I would be happy.

Belongs in a museum, its beautiful.

This arrived the other day, its a 1930 dated Austrian 2 Schillings coin made from .640 silver.
Starting in the late 1920's Austria released a circulating commemorative silver 2 Schilling coin each year, this carried on until the Germans united the country in 1938 and replaced their currency with the Reichsmark.
These coin's featured a different person or building from their history each year, also the mintage's were quite low on most of them at 500,000.
All the coins were minted for one year only, the early ones had all the different house shields surrounding the value on the obverse, this was later replaced by the two headed eagle, though the former design would be re-instated after WW2,
The 1930 coin here features on its reverse Walther Von Vogelweide and remembers his death in the year 1230, he was a German poet and songwriter, this same man and design on the coin also features on a German 1930 dated 3 Marks silver coin, that coin has far lower mintage's and is worth considerably more.
500,000 were minted of the 1930 year coin, how many of those survived the melting pot when the Third Reich marched in is anyone's idea.
 

Its been a while since I put any coins on here, that's because I have not found any good enough for sale that I wanted lately, then several came all at once, the first of them arrived today.
This is a British India 1 Rupee coin, dated 1942 and made of .500 silver.
This coin was the largest of the silver British Indian coins that was issued, its size and weight was just under that of a British 1/2 Crown of the same era.
The first 1 Rupee to feature George VI head appeared in 1938 and was only made for two years, 1938 & 1939, these coins were made from .917 silver and had a reeded edge, not many were minted, in 1940 the silver content went down to .500, and this type was made in huge numbers, then in 1942 a new feature was incorporated to prevent counterfeits, a security edge was added to the coins, this version was made until 1945 when silver was stopped being used in the coins.
1942 was the lowest mintage year by far and only one mint made them that year and there was no known variations which was unusual for these coins.
Production figures of the third type GRVI 1 Rupee are as follows
1942,  7,352,000      Bombay Mint
1943,  65,995,000   Bombay Mint
1944,  146,206,000 Bombay Mint
1944,  91,400,000   Lahore Mint
1945,  142,666,000  Bombay Mint
1945,  118,126,000    Lahore Mint
 


 
I wonder why modern bullion coins don't do something like this to make them harder to copy
 

I love that design, I have a mint 1938 silver 2 Pengo with the same design, what year is that coin ?

They look like @SilverTrader s little sac's of fun, I love fondling his sac's when they arrive, there is always something good that spills out.

Here is a few coins from a group order I did, and a superb box from @Alun  , I always get excited about his big package arriving, he is so good with his hands when they are around his wood.



 

This is my latest pickup a 1942 dated 'Mercury headed' Dime (or 10 Cents), made from .900 silver by the Philadelphia mint.
This coin design was brought out in 1916 replacing the previous 'Barber Dime' coin, it was manufactured unchanged until 1945 when it was replaced by the Roosevelt Dime design.
The first thing that shocked me when I was first looking at wartime versions of these coins was the fascine on the reverse, this was Italy's dictatorships emblem used by Mussolini, and where they got the word 'fascist' from, it was only when I realised that the design was used on the US coin long before he used it and not the other way around.
The front featured what looked like the Greece god Mercury, but I think it was Liberty wearing a winged cap with it meaning freedom of thought.
Many millions of these were made for nearly three decades, different mints, errors and weakness of the strike from worn dies effecting the value as well as condition, apart from whether or not a coin has all its original mint lustre one way to check the wear on these coins is if you can see the separate little bands holding the fascine's together, if the top and bottom ones look one piece (instead of two) then the coin is probably worn, the centre one can also wear down BUT, a coin like mine that has all its mint lustre probably was made from a worn die making the centre band look like a one piece.
The coins were made by three mints, one had no mint mark the others had letters denoting theirs, this could be found bottom left of the fascine.
Philadelphia, no mark
Denver, a D
San Francisco, an S
My coin had a mintage of a colossal 205,432,329 million minted in 1942 alone, by just the Philadelphia mint, so they are common but also not as easy to find in AU/UNC condition possibly due to the soft high silver content in them and long time in service, which to this day are still legal tender in the USA.
 

 

The USA Jefferson nickel (5 Cents) replaced the earlier 'Buffalo' design in 1938, and featured the third US president Thomas Jefferson, all of the coins were made from copper-nickel until 1942 when the USA needed nickel for its war industry, the nickel content was replaced by .350 silver and manganese, it was found this combination did not effect their use in the various slot machines, some mints carried on with the copper-nickel 'recipe' through the war.
The silver coins can be distinguished from the copper-nickel ones by having the mint mark of the state that made them above the Whitehouse, if it does not have a letter there it isn't silver, mine is a P for Philadelphia US mint, D for Denver and S for San Francisco were others making them.
Production of the silver content coins ended in 1945 at the end of the war.
A monster 271,165,000 of my coin were minted by Philadelphia in 1943 alone, the highest production year and total of all the mints for the 'war nickels' as they were known.
Shame the photo does not show all the mint lustre on this one.
 


 

This is my latest coin a 1941 dated, Australian Florin (2 Shillings), made from .925 silver, this coin featuring George VI was minted every year from 1938 to 1945, after 1945 the coins were made from only .500 silver, the coins were made mainly at the Melbourne Mint with a few being made in the USA by the San Francisco Mint during the war years.
The coin featured a low relief portrait of George VI on the obverse and coat of arms with a Kangaroo and Emu on the reverse. 
1941 was one of the slightly lower mintage years with 7,614,000 made, not an easy coin to find in unc/au condition most likely due to their softness being of Sterling .925 silver, this one has quite a few bag marks when magnified despite having all its mint lustre.
 


 

This arrived today, its a 1934 dated, New Zealand 3 pence, with George V, and made from .500 silver.
This coin design was first minted in 1933 and was made for 4 years until replaced by coins featuring George VI in 1937.
The reverse featured a traditional Maori battle club called a Patu, and this was used on all the 3 pence coins up to the reign of Elizabeth 2nd.
Many were minted despite the 4 year run, but not many have survived in AU or UNC condition being pretty well worn.
Production is as follows
1933,  6,000,000
1934,  6,000,000
1935,  40,000
1936,  2,760,000
 


 
 
Smaller and thinner than a modern Uk 5p, its tiny
 

This is my latest buy a 1944 dated Egyptian 2 Piastres coin featuring King Farouk and made from .500 silver.
This coin replaced the earlier round coin that was made of a higher silver content of .833, the new coin was still minted at the Royal London Mint in England, not sure why they chose a hexagonal shape this time, but it means I have to get some more capsules to fit it in.
This coin was made for one year only in 1944, all latest official sources (Krause/NGC etc) claim that only 32,000 coins were made, making it the rarest of all my coins so far, independent sources claim it was 32 million, I am believing the official accounts until they say otherwise, partly because King Farouk was really starting to losing favour with his populace at this time.

Its a shame its hard to show lustre on the coins without using artificial light or videoing it.

I have shown it compared to the previous 1937 dated type, 2 Piastres I bought a few weeks ago.
 


 


 

This is my Egyptian 2 Piastres coin featuring King Farouk, it was minted in 1937 out of .833 silver by the British Royal Mint.
Farouk became king of Egypt when his dad Fuad I died in 1936, he was only 18 at the time and was studying in London, the first of these coins were minted in 1937, further production was only in 1939 and 1942, and of the years produced some are far rarer than others as seen below, 
1937,  500,000 minted
1939,  500,000 minted
1942,  10,000,000 minted
Most I see are quite well worn so I was really happy to find this UNC one I love the design of this coin, plus the fact I wonder how many were melted down when the king had to go into exile due to his country revolting against him and his excesses.
In 1944 this denomination of coin was made in a hexagonal shape and now of .500 silver, it was made for one year only with 32,000,000 being minted.
 

This is my latest pick up a Netherlands 10 Gulden made in 1933 from .900 gold, this version of the 10 Gulden came out in 1925 and featured the final mature Queen Wilhelmina portrait, it was only made in low mintages in 1925, 1926, 1927, 1932 and finally 1933 which was also the last year of circulating gold coins in the Netherlands.
The coin is a similar size and weight to a full British sovereign.
Mintage for the year 1933 was 2,462,101
Bought the coin from Bullion By Post as a Christmas present to myself and they were superb, they got a selection out of the best condition coins they had and photographed them for me to pick one, and had it delivered to me the next day, all the dealers I contacted on here couldn't even be bothered to get back to me.
Pics don't do justice to all the original mint lustre still present.
 

Here is my meager stack of SAO and CML bars, now sold exclusively as ALBION by Silvertrader, guarded by a 1925 Walther Model 8 pistol .25 acp, this was the pistol of choice of the notorious Dr Joesph Goebbels and was alledgedly used by him to end his and his wifes life at the end of WW2, the gun was a pre-cursor of the famous PP and PPK models and had several new for the time features that would be used in all later Walthers.
 

Well I finally managed to get an OCD proof 5 ReichsMark coin, same mint as my 2 Reichsmark (D Munich).
 

 

 
 

This arrived today, 1937 dated Austrian 2 Schilling, made from .640 silver, Austria released circulating commemorative coins each year, this one was celebrating 200 years since the building of their main church St Karl, 1937 was the last year Austria made silver coins of their own, the Third Reich invading and confiscated their coinage replacing it with their own in 1938.
Made one year only, and 500,000 minted.
The coin I could tell was a bit of a diamond in the rough, it had been kept in a PVC slip for decades, which had turned it into the incredible Hulk, it was dirty and had unattractive toning and probably one reason I got it so cheaply, so I decided this one I would use some MS70 coin cleaner on and it brought it back to life a treat.
 
As bought


 
Half cleaned
 


 
 
And completed, very happy with it, can see all the original lustre now
 


 

Got this as one of my Christmas presents, a British 1937 dated coronation 1 crown, minted from .500 silver.
This coin was last crown to be made of silver in the UK, and was brought out to commemorate the coronation of king George VI in 1937, it was made for one year only, with only 418,600 made.
A very large coin, you would certainly know about it with a few of these in your pockets back then.
Surprisingly this coin is still legal tender in the UK, having been revalued at 25p, though they are worth quite a bit more than this now, pics dont do it justice and the coin has most of its original mint lustre remaining.
 

 


 

A little bicarb bath never hurt...

A beautiful delivery on this miserable day, couple more pesos for the collection and my first Thalers & 100 peseta (quickly becoming a favourite of mine)
Hope everyone's having a fine weekend! 😁

My silver proof Mayflower medal and coin set and the silver reverse proof Mayflower medal arrived the other day from my brother in Florida, we decided to wait until the Christmas rush of post was over for them to send my US Mint order over.
Another friend in the US has been tracking a package of coins from him....here is where the package has been to already:
Accepted Hampton
Departed Hampton
Arrived Norfolk
Arrived Philadelphia 
Arrived Jersey City
Arrived Norfolk (again, and why?)
Departed Norfolk
Arrived Philadelphia (again)
Departed Philadelphia 
Arrived Jersey City (again!)
Arrived Philadelphia (third times the charm)
Departed Philadelphia 
Arrived South Jersey (new!)
Arrived Jamaica NY
Departed Jamaica NY
Arrived Jamaica NY
Processed through Jamaica NY
Arrived New York
Departed New York
Departed London Heathrow
 
Most of that package is clad US coins, two Basketball 50 cent coins, and my 2020 bullion silver American Eagle.
 

This arrived today. 2 Bolivares 1965. Hard to find them with no wear on the Cornucopias!

Bring on the silver short squeeze 😄... my stake in it and first bullion ive bought in a while, thanks@arshimo2012 the Schone bars are very nice 👍 
 

Just had this delivered and its a beautiful coin...... However its got to go back... scratch on the Queen's neck 😞