Just bought this outstanding example of a relatively rare WWI iron Token. It is in pretty good shape and the portrait is just fantastic and unique. Just thought I would share. I collect for portraits and this is a crown jewel of portraits IMO.



1918 10 STADT DUREN IRON COIN TOKEN - GERMANY

Obverse depicts a German Trenchman with the letters 'SD' to the left

Coin Size 24mm

WORLD WAR I 'NOTGELD PERIOD'

Very interesting

I should clarify that I say 'relatively rare' as I do not see these come up for sale often and of the ones I see, less have the SD in the field and even less are in such good condition.

In WWI germany at the time money was being horded thus creating a lack of currency in circulation so towns and cities minted thier own local money to be used just in that city or town. There were probably thousands of different types of bills and hundreds of different types of tokens minted....it is Notgeld which means 'emergency money'...many of the bills and coins minted at this time had great designs, this one is no exception.

This coin was minted in Iron as other metals were probably in short supply and it was minted for the city or duren...stadt meaning city. This Token was probably only used in duren and from what I have read even these were probably horded as well...

It is, IMO, a sterling example of one of the local tokens, it is the best example of this particular one I have seen come to auction and although it was worth almost nothing, this one ended up being the target of a bidding war and sold for well over what it is probably worth but worth is relative

According to Walter Funck catalogue "Die Notmunzen der Deutschen Stadte, Gemeinden, Kreise, Lander, etc", Band 1, 7'th edition 2000 these tokens were issued in 501.500 ex. Value: 4 DM (approx 2 euro).
Exists and the variant without SD - in 1.100.750 ex - at the same value. Funck# 105.7 and 105.8.
You can search the 1/2 Mark token, the av. is with head of an pilot. (Funck# 105.12, value 10 DM)

thats what I thought, I see far fewer of these without the SD than with. Like I said, I probably paid more they are technicaly worth but worth is relative and it was in better shape than any other I have seen (save one I saw for sale minted in steel w/o the SD) and I see very few, to me it is an extra ordinary portrait and a work of art Just wondering, does anyone else here have one of this type they can post?

Here is a bill printed with the same soldier profile on it:

If you are interested in paper Notgeld, you may also want to have a look at CP's "Virtual Banknote Museum":
http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?showforum=23

See the "Notgeld - Austria" and "Notgeld - Germany" topics for example. Some of the designs are pretty simple - heck, it was Notgeld - , others are quite elaborate and pretty ...

Christian

yeah, I have looked through both the austria and germany notgeld threads...some fantastic designs...I even like the very simple ones...they have a certain charm

I have it, but must check if it is with or w/o SD...

I realy like this area of numus (like I was saying on another forum) and I would like to shift my focus to buying more of these. My problem is I never see them selling at the low book value quoted. In auction a good example goes for far more and as I looked online for examples I could possibly buy, I find the prices to be far higher than the listed value for ones that have rust on them and are not in good shape.

For example I found the more common variety of this specific coin selling on 2 websites for 25 USD rusty...a few more selling at auction for 10+ and a few more of the SD variety selling for almost 40 USD.

Sometimes the book price doesnt match reality...If I could find a dealer that will sell me these at that low book price, that would be great...

Not the same type...nor in the same year, but in the same broad vein.

here's one from Bonn dated 1920 portraying Beethoven (without his military cap on) .

Try "notmunze" or "kriegsmunze" into www.ebay.de to find some cheap war tokens.

I just took some pictures of mine. I won it in a giveaway here from Bill. The pictures are bad, but you get the idea.

thats a nice one! I have seen a few of those floating around.

Thats a nice one dan...thanks for posting it, I seldom see this one up for bid but they come around here and there...I have been buying some paper notgeld lately.