Real or Fake Nazi/ Zionist token

covers

A friend forwarded to me an email and attachment from Switzerland. The party asks:

"I know that this isn't your field, but can you please ask somebody if this coin is authentic? I believe that it is a fake."

Any help appreciated.

lordmarcovan

There were Jewish ghetto coins and tokens issued, so it is possibly a real item. However, I am certain that there are many, many fantasy issues and fakes as well. I do not have the knowledge to tell you what that is.

satootoko

Definitely a fake.

According to this article on the website of one of the highest authorities on the Jewish history of World War II, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, the Polish city of Lodz had the second largest Jewish community in Europe (second only to Warsaw) at the time of the Blitzkreig against Poland in 1939. It was conquered within the first week, and persecution of the Jewish population began immediately. The city was later renamed Litzmannstadt by the Germans, after their general who captured the city in WW I, and it is that name which appears on the Ghetto coinage.



<< <i>The currency of the Lodz ghetto was unique, since Lodz was the only ghetto that issued coins. >>



Except for the values, all coins (which were struck in 1942-43) had the same design in 10 pfennig and 5, 10, and 20 mark denominations.

The obverse showed a six-pointed star of David with the date in the center:


The reverse had the denomination in the center and “Der Alteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt” imprinted around the rim:


BTW - There is absolutely nothing "Zionist" about this reminder of man's inhumanity to man!

ajaan

I submittted two Ghetto coins to ICG in Charlotte. They still haven't graded them yet.

spoon

I'd lean toward its being fake, but there is the slight possibility that it was a token of some sort outside of the ghettos.

Can you read the full legends? I see "Ein Nazi fahrt nach ..." = "A Nazi goes to ..." but can't make out the next word. Der Angriff was an early NSDAP propaganda rag.

spoon

Actually, here is your coin in a Heritage auction! (but in brass) The full legend reads "Ein Nazi fahrt nach Palastina".

Google that phrase and you'll get a lot of hits. Apparently Der Angriff ran a series titled that in 1934. Still reading, but it looks like we're nearing an answer.

covers

Thanks to all - It would seem from reading a couple of the articles linked that it exists genuine. Is this correct? If so, is the particular example a fake or am I mis-reading things?

satootoko

<< <i>Thanks to all - It would seem from reading a couple of the articles linked that it exists genuine. >>

I guess you need to define what you mean by "genuine."

If you mean real government issued or authorized coin, absolutely, positively, without shadow of doubt - No!

If you mean real token/medal, without monetary value, issued during the Nazi era, very possibly.

covers

I never thought it was a "coin" in any normal sense of the word (the owner termed it a coin but English is a third language for him and that word is nuanced). Is it a real token?

1jester

The legends say "A Nazi travels to Palestine" and "and tells about it in 'The Angriff'" I can't say if the token is real or fake; the pictures are extremely poor, and besides I have no knowledge of this series.

Writersblock

It's not a coin or token, it is an advertising medalet. Is it real as in meaning "Is it one of the contemporary pieces distributed at the time for the purpose of advertising the article?" That is too difficult to say considering how crude the image is. It appears to be a copy of the same image from the article on this site. Text On that site the image is larger and can be seen to be suffering badly from pixelation and other photograph artifacting. So there is really no way to tell from the image if it is contemporary or a more recent copy.

covers

Thanks again to all respondents. I have forwarded this thread to the person who asked me.