Third Reich NEWP

Yorkshireman

As a World War II history buff, I had to bring this to my collection. The prettiest of its kind I have seen.

laurentyvan

It's a striking coin
and worthy of inclusion
but "pretty" IMHO
is but an illusion.

Memories are still fresh,
It's past still too recent.
Acknowledging it, yes
but admiration's not decent.

Names of family deceased
swirl in my brain
as I gaze on this symbol
and what it sought to attain.

Yorkshireman

I undertand the pain related to this. My Mother was English. Her town lost most of the men born the same year as she (1924).

Simply admiring the coin (color and/or artwork) does not mean I believe in the political ideology responsible for its making. I understand its historical significance more than most people not actually alive during during the war.

However, I am sorry if I offended anyone.
Rather than ballooning this thread, send me a PM if you wnat me to take it down.

laurentyvan

No, don't take it down.
I was simply expressing my knee jerk reaction (perhaps too quickly).
As I said, it's a striking coin...

pmac

As an aside, Caligula was a bad dude too, but coins with his bust have been sought after by so many.

OldEastside

I have quite a few 2mark silvers, just for the purpose of NEVER FORGETING as I'm Czech and Slav

Steve

laurentyvan

As an aside, Caligula was a bad dude too, but coins with his bust have been sought after by so many.

Yes, but so long ago that the immediacy of his evilness is non-existent.

It might be interesting to do a "bad dudes on coins" thread.

lordmarcovan

'Tis nice to not only see laurentyvan in the land of the living again, but waxing poetic!

Let's face it; coins with a dark past or the potraits of tyrants are just plain interesting, from a historical standpoint, if one can leave aside the political or emotional aspects.

Yorkshireman

<< <i>'Tis nice to not only see laurentyvan in the land of the living again, but waxing poetic!

Let's face it; coins with a dark past or the potraits of tyrants are just plain interesting, from a historical standpoint, if one can leave aside the political or emotional aspects. >>



Thanks, LM. Well put.

asheland

Very interesting coin!

STLNATS

Politics aside, the coins of prewar Germany are very well designed, generally very attractive in higher grades and good examples of the art deco style so en vogue at the time even in the US. And I do think these issues are often overlooked because of the horrors associated with the 3rd Reich.

But I do find it interesting that some folks seem almost apologetic about posting these artifacts. But its pretty easy to make the case that lots and lots of other issuers have had egregious problems with human rights at times, some even more recently, such as the Soviet Union (1930s Ukraine, Baltic States and Stalin's gulags), Belgium (Congo), Spain (Native cultures in the Americas), Italy (the inquisition, Ethopia), Cambodia (Pol Pot), the UK (Ireland, India, Scotland), China, Turkey (Armenia) and perhaps even the US (Native culture genocide and slave trade), etc etc. Making the comparison doesn't excuse any of them, but I fear if one wanted to collect and display only those issued by entities "without sin" it would be a very small list indeed (maybe just Andorra and Iceland). Just my two quadrini...

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>But its pretty easy to make the case that lots and lots of other issuers have had egregious problems with human rights at times, some even more recently,. >>



well said!
.

Icollecteverything

Coins can't be evil, us human beans have the market cornered on that.

The swastika is very similar to a symbol that was regarded as good luck for centuries before the Nazis.

And as STLNATS said there aren't many innocent countries out there. Look what the USA did to the natives, the bison and the bald eagle and then we put them on our coins.