Cape Coral Collection-German 3 marks

3Mark

I am selling my German 3 mark collection of uncirculated and proofs. These have been the top sets at PCGS for many years. They are being sold in the Heritage Auction number 3075 at the ANA on August 15, 2019 under the name of "Cape Coral Collection". There are about 300 3 marks. I will miss them.

Thanks,
Larry

TwoKopeiki

Larry, i'll definitely try to grab some examples. Sorry to see you sell the collection. Will there be a new collecting focus (and perhaps a new forum name ?

3Mark

TK, I have some other collections, but these were my main focus. Still love them all.

neildrobertson

I'll bid on a couple of your MS examples. I've been trying to get more 2 marks lately, but I'll want to move onto 3 marks eventually. I'm staying away from Proofs for now.

Preussen

Link to Heritage...

https://coins.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=3184+793+794+791+1577+792+2088+4294944595+2680&ic=Items-OpenAuctions-Open-BrowseCatalog-051914

Bob13

Nice collection - I have a few on my watch list, purely because I like the look of them.

How can I learn a bit about these coins? Are these like US commems? Was this a way for the governments to raise money during the depression/after the war? There seem to be many proofs for some issues, few for others - are their mintage records?

Thanks in advance - any help appreciated.
Bob

neildrobertson

@Bob13 said:
Nice collection - I have a few on my watch list, purely because I like the look of them.

How can I learn a bit about these coins? Are these like US commems? Was this a way for the governments to raise money during the depression/after the war? There seem to be many proofs for some issues, few for others - are their mintage records?

Thanks in advance - any help appreciated.
Bob

The German Empire era 3 marks are a combination of commemoratives and circulation issues. I don't think any of these were a major income source for the government. Much like in the US, you could get the commemoratives from the mint for a modest premium over face value. There are mintage records for almost all of the MS/business strike coins. Mintages for proofs are few and far between, and people are forced to estimate how many there are based on knowledge of how often you see them and what's known in collections.

The 3 Mark started in 1907 when they officially demonetized the old Thalers from prior to the German Empire. The 3 Mark is approximately the size of the Thaler, and some people refer to it as a direct replacement. That's why you don't see 3 Marks from 1875-1906 like you do for 2 and 5 Mark silver coins.

The Weimar Republic 3 Marks are mostly going to be commemoratives. I don't know as much about these, but the same basic principles are true.

The most prevalent general catalog for this stuff is "Die Deutschen Muenzen Seit 1871" by Kurt Jaeger. It's the redbook for German coins. It won't tell you the story of the coins, but it will literally tell you what's out there with known mintages.

3Mark

Neil, nice background on the three marks. Unfortunately, Jaeger is in German, but you might try "Standard Catalog of German Coins from 1501 to present" 3rd edition. It is in English and has some good detail, but is out of date and you might find one cheap and covers a lot more than three marks.

gscoins

This is, without doubt, a remarkable collection. Selling it must be a little bittersweet for the owner. In looking at the photos of these coins, I am reminded that, in a very real sense, we "own" beautiful coins only temporarily and will eventually pass them on to others we hope will appreciate them as much as we have.

I expect the collection to go for lots of $$$, and will try to obtain a couple for myself. Good luck!