Jester's Challenge #199

1jester · January 16, 2004 4:25AM

Welcome to Jester's Challenge, an interactive history lesson.

Inspired by many others here on the Darkside forum, I'd like to present what I hope will turn into a great learning experience for all of us. Many members on this World and Ancient Coin Forum have done a formidable job of sharing with us many fascinating and historically important coins. Since looking at coins is also one of my greatest pleasures, I'd like to try to follow in that time-honored tradition and submit for your pleasure and entertainment some world coins I've come across in my short lifetime.

I will pick out a coin on a regular basis, and post it along with the challenge to you to name the coin, its provenance, denomination, metallic content, mintage, any distinguishing characteristics or noteworthy features, and its value. The more information, the better. I'd like as many people as possible to participate, regardless of how little knowledge you might have on the subject. I appreciate comments on every aspect of the coin, including its history, or its role in human history, or info on similar coins in its series, etc. I myself don't presume to know 1/1000 of what you collectively know, hence my challenge to all of you to share your knowledge with the rest of us. Hopefully this exercise will encourage thought, discussion, and most importantly, more friendship.

Thanks for your participation!!!

Here is the one hundred ninety-ninth selection:

oldshep · January 16, 2004 4:31AM

1943

Shep

Bruce · January 16, 2004 4:48AM

Kind of looks like a medal or a token to me, but an interesting one at that.

1jester · January 16, 2004 4:48AM

Shep, you're good!

....Ahhh, now I get it.

oldshep · January 16, 2004 4:49AM

Shep

1jester · January 16, 2004 4:55AM

Link

historygeek · January 16, 2004 4:58AM

Could you read out the legends?

1jester · January 16, 2004 5:09AM

Yes, they say "Receipt for 5 Marks" and "Eldest of the Jews in Lodz (Litzmannstadt)" This last one refers to the chief "moneyer" who was the Elder, or representative of the Jews in the ghetto.

Eery stuff.

Askari · January 16, 2004 5:17AM

Eerie, indeed.

JamminJ · January 16, 2004 6:44AM

Creepy seems a bit understated with the star of David encircled by barbed wire.

A remembrence of evil is more like it.

-JamminJ

historygeek · January 16, 2004 6:46AM

That's barbed wire?

JamminJ · January 16, 2004 6:56AM

With a closer look maybe it isn't barbed wire, just more stars on a circle. Given the sinister background I assumed the worst.

-JamminJ

Conder101 · January 16, 2004 7:40PM

It's kind of both and rather symbolic. The barbed wire around the jewish getto, the wire containing the jews etc.

Cladking sent me a PM bringin this thread to my attention, this was part of my reply.

Thanks for the link, you're right I would not have seen it . The Lodz Getto coins are a very interesting group with a chilling history. I have a complete set of them including the tough recalled 1942 10 pfennig issue that was pulled because it looked too much like the regular German coin and the very tough 20 Mark coin.

The 20 Mark is tough because it was issued in 1944 only about 20 days before they liquidated the Getto and sent all of the remaining Jews off to the death camps. Supposedly most of the surviving pieces were recovered from alongside the railroad tracks whre the jews in the boxcars dropped them bcause they knew they would have no use for them where they were going.

1jester · January 16, 2004 8:47PM

Thanks for the additional info, Conder! I didn't know why the 20 Mark coin was so rare.

I also believe the tiny stars are made to represent barbed wire.

ccrdragon · January 17, 2004 12:03AM

A facinating and very disturbing piece of history.....

I also agree on the barbed wire instead of the stars.

Jester's Challenge #199

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