Polish Regency fenig 1917 - year not in Krause?

Sapyx

Hi all, got a little mystery here. I've had this coin since i bought it nice and cheap from a local (Australian) dealer back in 1999.

Poland, German-Austrian Regency (World War I) 1 fenig 1917, iron.

Back when I bought it, it was sold as "not listed in Krause". Sure enough, when I brought it home and looked it up, it's not there - not for that date, anyway. Only 1918 is listed for the 1 fenig, though the other denominations (5, 10 and 20 fenigow) both dates are listed. That was in both the 1988 and 1997 editions of Krause.

Trouble is, it's still not listed (not in my 2006 edition, anyways). Is this thing really unheard of? Is this one of those (rare) times when "not listed in Krause" actually means it's rare and worth something? Is it a dud or some kind of "notgeld copy"? Anyone know the full story, here?

1jester

I looked in one Polish catalog I have, but it's not listed. I couldn't locate my other catalogs at the moment, but when I do, I'll take a look there too. You might have struck it rich!!

3Mark

It's listed in MoneyTrend and the prices in euros are as follows:

s=550
ss=965
vz=1375
prf(unc)=2475

Rare coin and see post on German grading.3Mark

cwt

In my copy of Jaeger (19th edition) on page 729, J604 is a 1917 F 1 Fenig issued during the occupation of Poland and apparently is quite valuable.

laurentyvan

Sapyx, it sounds like you might be very pleased with your item. Congratulations...

spoon

That's a valuable piece indeed!

My last copy of M&P (March 04) lists it at € 600/ss/F, 1100/vz/VF, 2100/vz-st/AU, LP (asking price)/st/UNC.

It also includes this blurb:

<< <i>Der Jahrgang 1917 F kam nicht in den Zahlungsverkehr. Vorkommende Stücke in Normalprägung stammen aus dem Brandschutt der Stuttgarter Münze. Eine Münze zu 2 Fenigi war geplant, wurde aber nicht geprägt. >>

The gist of which is that this year was not released into circulation. Existing coins are from the stash at the Stuttgart Mint after it burned down. There was a planned 2 fenig coin, but it was never made.

Sapyx

Wow! "Very pleased" is an understatement, Laurent! That's way cooler than I hoped, or even suspected!

I only paid AU$2 for it. I thought this sort of thing only happened to "my friend's uncle" or other semi-mythical folks... It's sure never happened to me before!

Thanks to everyone for their assistance!

1jester

OK, I finally found my Parchimowicz catalog (still haven't located my Fischer, and I can't find the proper volume of my Kopicki set of catalogs) and the coin is listed. No mintage is given, however, and no price is given, meaning it's so rare that the market sets the price.

Congrats once again on the find!

Sapyx

Thanks again, Jester. Your efforts are appreciated.

1jester

My pleasure, Sap! Sorry it's not much info. I'll try to find some actual prices realized for you if I can.

secondrepublic

WOW... assuming it's real you may have won it big time. Congrats!

The coin's price seems to depend a lot on the grade. Here are some auction results for this coin that I found: Link 1 and Link 2. I would think your coin falls somewhere in between those, maybe in the middle range in price, but I would really recommend getting it slabbed so there are no doubts as to authenticity.