What's up with aluminum coins?

eyoung429

I have several piles from Germany, Italy and still going through them. Are the '40's and 50's rare or worth anything at all? Most of the ones that I have are in excellent condition.

Thanks!

Man

Italy not really, Germany maybe a little more you know because of WWII but also not that much.









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tbirde56

Collector value depends on demand as well as date, number minted, mint mark (if any), and condition (grade) of a coin, including amount of wear, any dents, scratches or cleaning. You might also try a library for a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Coins for pictures, values and lots more interesting info.

The last aluminum coins from Germany were the 50 pfennigs of 1944.
Italy minted aluminum 5 and 10 Lire coins until the Euro took over in 2002.

Generally, none of the above are rare but some dates may be scarce in the higher grades

lordmarcovan

Some of the Italian aluminum coins from the early 1950's have decent catalog prices in high grade.

newsman

Uncirculated early East German ones are nice, too.

tbirde56

You're right Newsman! I missed those. The 1952-53 issues from the Muldenhutten mint (E) (south of Leipzig?) are especially hard to come by. The last aluminum coins from East Germany were minted in 1990 at the Berlin (A) mint when the Wall came down and some dates are scarce in even the lower grades.

eyoung429

Here's a couple I brought in today.

from upper row left to right

2 Franc looks like a "B" 1949 10 lire? Italian "r" 1966

2nd row

10 lire Italian "r" 1953 1 dunno??? 10Groschen 1955

3rd row

10 Groschen 1959 2 Groschen 1957 hellifiknow

tbirde56

France, 2 Francs, 1949B
Italy, 10 Lire (2) (1951-2001)
Japan, 1 Yen (1955+)
Austria, 10 groschen (2) (1950-94)
Austria, 2 groschen (1950-94)
China, 1 fen, 1940

All look to be worth less than a dollar each.

eyoung429

Cool, thanks tbird56....not worried about the monetary value unless they were rare and then I would place them in airtites....instead, I will give some to the kids to study raw.

Thanks!

cladking

There are a lot of 20th century and late 19th century aluminum coins. These tend
to have been produced in substantial numbers and had huge attrition. While col-
lector interest was usually very low at time of issue sometimes huge numbers were
set aside anyway simply because they were so inexpensive. There are existing hoardes
of over a million of a few dozen of them.

Not only did these tend to suffer high attrition because of rapid wear and low value,
but many have been recalled by the issuer and destroyed. Many more have been
used for other purposes such as washers or privately melted. While there are lots
of aluminum coins in poundage there are many types which are never seen there and
more that aren't seen in nice condition. There are lots of aluminum coins which simply
aren't seen in gem because of the destruction, high wear, and poor quality when issued.

Catalog values are low for almost all because of the very low demand. These coins
would make a great specialty for younger collectors.