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If you look at a reputable world coin catalog, like Chester L. Krause’s Standard Catalog of World Coins, you will notice that between 10 to 30 percent of its pages are dedicated to the coins of Germany, or more accurately, “The Germanies.” “The Germanies” include more than 100 German kingdoms, principalities, dukedoms, bishoprics, free cities, and political entities that minted coins. This list includes the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from Christmas Day 800 C.E. until Napoleon I put an end to it in 1806. This makes collecting German coins a particular challenge. A little knowledge about Germanic history will help the collector. At one time the former Holy Roman Emperor, Francis, (who was to become Napoleon’s father-in-law) became the Emperor of Austria. He had been Holy Roman Emperor and Arch Duke of Austria and a number of other places. Napoleon thought that this was a bit too grand and wanted what today is mostly modern Germany to break away from Austria. Hence, he created the “Austrian Empire,” which lasted until 1918. The rest of Germany was organized into the “German Confederation,” and hundreds of states were merged into a mere 39. Austria dominated the German States until 1866, when the mighty Kingdom of Prussia crushed Austria in the “Seven Weeks War” and drove Austria out of the Germanies. In five years’ time, Prussia’s King William and his “Iron Chancellor” Otto Von Bismarck defeated France and her Emperor Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan and proclaimed the establishment of the “Second Reich” or Empire in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles. The modern German Empire was born, but it only lasted from 1871 to 1918, when Kaiser William abdicated. This era was followed by the Weimar Republic. Many beautiful coins were minted during the ever so brief fifteen year life of the Republic. Of course, the Republic gave way to the Nazi era and the Third Reich. I have little interest in the coinage of the Third Reich period. From 1933 to 1945 only the Martin Luther King commemorative coin stands out as an interesting item. The coins of the post World War II period are also of little interest to me, but I must say that there have been a rich variety of German silver commemorative coins created in the modern era. Including Austria, the Holy Roman Empire, and Hungary up to the year 1866 in German coin collecting is justified by the fact that the Kaiser of Austria was the overlord of the German States at least in name. In 1866, as mentioned before, Prussia drove Austria out of Germany, a move that made it the de facto head of the German States. It is at this point that I give Austria the boot from my German collection. In that, Bismarck and I are of one mind. Like many world coin collectors, I love the large, historic, and handsome thalers of the German States. I am sure that even many poor Germans saw a few of these coins. They were hoarded by the middle class and brought great stability to the economy of the Germanies. Minor coins circulated in huge numbers in the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, and onward. The Germanies prospered in trade. The Protestant Reformation helped to give rise to the middle class, with whom dukes and princes united against the central control of the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor. The resultant Thirty Years War (1618-1648) underlined this fact and generated significant numismatic consequences. Religion in this period, after all, was a matter of high politics with great economic significance. This horrible religious war cost Germany as much as one-third of its male population, a high price to pay for the coinage we admire today. But we do admire and collect them. Medals featuring the head of the Protestant League, King Gustavus Adolphus, were struck in thaler-sized silver. Others, struck later on, show Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon in celebration of the 1530 Confession of Augsburg. In Catholic German States, like the Kingdom of Bavaria, fantastic thalers and minor coins were struck showing the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. The best thing about coin collecting is that you make the rules. My rule is that I collect what is of historic interest to me and what I find attractive. I collect coins of the world and the United States the same way as I collect the coins of Germany. This is not a smart thing for a coin dealer to say, because there is a lot of money to be made from convincing people that they should collect complete sets of dull and artistically impoverished series of coins. But the great thing about the hobby is that there is room for a diversity of opinion on the subject. In addition to coins, I am also fond of German medals. The great Karl Goetz was most prolific in this department, and his subjects included Field Marshall (later Weimar President) Paul Von Hindenburg, Albrecht Durer, Graf Zeppelin, Deo Schoffer, Hugo Eckener, and Otto Von Bismarck. Goetz also designed the Lusitania medal to celebrate the sinking of the British liner in 1915. This backfired on Germany, however. The British made copies of the medal for wide distribution to show how the “barbaric Huns” delighted in the killing of innocent men, women, children, and even infants. A fantastic article by Sean Aldrich was featured on the subject of the Lusitania and the Loetz medal in the November 2002 issue of The Numismatist, the official publication of the American Numismatic Association. Sean Aldrich was 17 when he wrote the article, which was so well received that he won the coveted first place Ray Byrne Memorial Literary Award presented by the American Numismatic Association. It is a remarkable piece of scholarship which adds profoundly to the historic understanding of German numismatists.
My Calendar On Sunday, September 28, I will be at the Westford Regency Inn Coin and Stamp show (formerly The Chelmsford Show). The Regency Inn and Conference Center is located on Route 110 (exit 32 off I-495.) Regular Show hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Based on experience, I suggest you arrive before 1:30 pm. On October 2 and 3, I will be at Tom Lacey’s New England Coin Expo at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield, MA. For more information regarding this show, which will feature dealers from all over the United States, call (508) 695-1922. On Sunday, October 4, I will be at the N.E.S.S Coin and Stamp Show in Dedham, MA, at Dedham’s Holiday Inn located near the junction of Route 1 and 128. Show Hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Sunday, October 26, I will be back at the Westford Regency Inn Coin and Stamp show. The Regency Inn and Conference Center is located on Route 110 (exit 32 off I-495.) Regular Show hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
You may also wish to check my website
for further updates. www.johnstonantiques.com |
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M.A. degrees in History and is the author of several books. He has also written more than 1,500 articles and monographs in The Numismatist, Linn’s Stamp News, The Regional Recorder, and other publications.
