Germany and German New Guinea - 4 grade results

coinkat

German New Guinea 1894-A 10 Pfennig

1908-G Mark

1927-A Bremmerhaven 3 Mark

1931-A Magdeburg 3 Mark

Thread economizing and sharing in one- TV images shared. All graded within expectations. The 1908-G Mark in hand is quite attractive as is the Bremmerhaven. I recall writing about the surviving population of the One Mark coins in the past- some will remain somewhat mysterious and I think this one pictured here can be added to the list.

Göttinger

Some very nice German and German colonial coins.
Could you please explain your findings and thoughts about the surviving population of 1 Mark coins?

coinkat

It is very difficult to gage what the surviving population at various grades is for many of these issues. For various reasons, one cannot rely on the pop reports. So this makes the valuations difficult to determine for condition rarities and what the incremental increases should be for exceptional examples. As an example, The 1908 G pictured here is apparently the highest graded by PCGS at MS66. There are 4 MS examples graded which is the same for the 1908 J but the 1908 J has a higher value. And the 1911 J has 3 MS examples graded and it seems to have significantly greater value. So this all turns back to what the surviving population is which remains a somewhat of a mystery.

Göttinger

Thank you for your detailed answer.
It's interesting to see this through the perspective of grading company population reports.
I'm in Germany and I always buy "junk" ½ & 1 Mark coins if I can find them for spot price or a little bit less - and it's really tough to find pre 1910 coins in better grades for sure!
But since collecting graded coins is not that popular/ common amongst German collectors yet, I suspect there are more ungraded gems out there compared to a US coin from the same time periode.
At the beginning of the 1st world war many circulating silver coins were stashd away and since the ½, 1 & 3 Mark coins were never officialy withdrawn from circulation a reasonable amount my have survived (of course mostly coins in average to bad condition though).

neildrobertson

@coinkat said:
It is very difficult to gage what the surviving population at various grades is for many of these issues. For various reasons, one cannot rely on the pop reports. So this makes the valuations difficult to determine for condition rarities and what the incremental increases should be for exceptional examples. As an example, The 1908 G pictured here is apparently the highest graded by PCGS at MS66. There are 4 MS examples graded which is the same for the 1908 J but the 1908 J has a higher value. And the 1911 J has 3 MS examples graded and it seems to have significantly greater value. So this all turns back to what the surviving population is which remains a somewhat of a mystery.

I would add that prices do not seem to always match rarity. This is especially true in high grades.

The 1908-G is at the very least an unusual date in high grade. I don't have one yet. The challenge with building a 1 Mark set is that there are >50 date/mm combos that are difficult in uncirculated grades.

coinkat

I need to do a better job of organizing what I have assembled thus far… while I like the set, it is not a top priority. I suspect I have submitted 15-20 to our host with reasonable results. I doubt I will complete a high end MS set.

YQQ

@Göttinger said:
Some very nice German and German colonial coins.
Could you please explain your findings and thoughts about the surviving population of 1 Mark coins?

@Göttinger said:
Thank you for your detailed answer.
It's interesting to see this through the perspective of grading company population reports.
I'm in Germany and I always buy "junk" ½ & 1 Mark coins if I can find them for spot price or a little bit less - and it's really tough to find pre 1910 coins in better grades for sure!
But since collecting graded coins is not that popular/ common amongst German collectors yet, I suspect there are more ungraded gems out there compared to a US coin from the same time periode.
At the beginning of the 1st world war many circulating silver coins were stashd away and since the ½, 1 & 3 Mark coins were never officialy withdrawn from circulation a reasonable amount my have survived (of course mostly coins in average to bad condition though).

And a ton of German people still have their secret stack up in the attic hidden under the roof.. and many have forgotten about it or it has never past down within the family out of fear.
It will be relieved when the are forced to replave their roof and a Zimmermann will find an old mouse-chewn box full of silver and perhaps gold coin. Ja, so ist es oefter, wenigstens in Suedeutschland wenn das 100-Jahre plus Dach umgebaut wird (noch mit handgesaegten Balken und latten).
fuer die DNG meunzen??? Stx dich mal mit Ralf Mueller in Herne in Verbindung. Er hat wohl die groesste sammlung davon vom DNG gold, ein paar scheine und alles complett, und vieles doppelt und dreifach
Ich habe ihm vor einigen Jahren meine DNG muenzen verkauft.

coinkat

Just a few other quick observations about the Mark and 1/2 Mark series:

Grading these can be challenging as die polish can resemble hairlines. It is best to use higher magnification with grading these to have greater certainty that one is distinguishing the differences. Die polish lines will be raised.

Quality can vary with these issues which is important to recognize mainly because that distinction in part goes to the question if the coin at hand is as good as it is going to get for me. And while that may sound different, it turns full circle back to the surviving population at various grade levels such as the one featured in this thread.