gxseries Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 A seller on Molotok is selling copies of so called 1943 Warsaw ghetto marks (if I translate right). I assume the genuine ones were almost wiped out and possibly banned worldwide, and possibly a lot worse than the Nazi coins themselves. Link Does anyone know the historical background of such coins? Apologizes in advance if this is an offensive material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostDutchman Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Well being a colletor of third reich militaria...we see stuff like this all the time...some of it is fantasy....and some of it is baised on real items...I have never seen these before but I will do some research Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabbs Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Those are indeed ghetto coins, but not from Warsaw. "Litzmannstadt" is the German (nazi) name for Lodz. The German occupational administration renamed the city in April 1940; Litzmann was the name of a German WW1 general. The ghetto cash (notes and, later, also those coins) were issued in order to control the flow of money: Once the ghetto money was issued, the Jews in Lodz were not allowed to possess Reichsmark cash any more. Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabbs Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 The inscription "Der Aelteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt" refers to the issuing authority (if that term is appropriate at all in this context): The Jews in Lodz were forced into the ghetto which then had to set up a Jews Council. This "Eldest of the Jews" was Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski ... until he was killed himself when the ghetto was dissolved and the remaining inhabitants deported to the extermination camps in 1944. The coins depicted on the page you link to, well, I cannot read Russian, but those pieces look pretty much like the actual coins. No "COPY" stamp anywhere, no altered date ... but my catalog does indeed have an "F" next to all Litzmannstadt coins, meaning there are a lot of fakes around. Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banivechi Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Christian has right. I saw many of such these coins for sale from 10 to 50 euro, but I read somewhere that over 90% of these are fakes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gxseries Posted April 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 Yes Christian, they are indeed copies, declared by the seller, but probably well made since the original designs are too simple. Thank you very much for the interesting story. I am pretty speechless right now. If such coins are determined to be genuine, how much do such go for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 Yes Christian, they are indeed copies, declared by the seller, but probably well made since the original designs are too simple. Thank you very much for the interesting story. I am pretty speechless right now. If such coins are determined to be genuine, how much do such go for? I posted one in another thread and have it in my omnicoin collection. I bought mine in a William Rosenblum auction. His auctions contain a good deal of Jewish material including material from the holocaust. As distasteful as the topic may be for some, greater harm is done in forgetting the history and everything we can learn from it. I've written about the period and co-authored a catalog of Hitler medals published by TAMS. The Lodz pieces were struck in aluminum and aluminum-magnesium (rarer of the two metals). They are listed in the Standard Catalog of World Coins, under Poland. Quality pieces run in the $50 to $200 dollar range. Buying from someone like Rosenblum is one way to ensure that your dealer has handled these pieces and is an expert in them and their authenticity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ætheling Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 I find this fascinating, i didn't know such things existed. I shall have to keep a look out for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffibunny Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 I have seen these types of things before. I wouldn't mind having one myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotten Rodney Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 me neither. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Go to google and search for Lodz ghetto money, and you'll find a number of links. One site has some bills and coins starting here: http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/gallery/p500.htm or the main entry point will lead you through a good deal of history and context. http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lodz/holocaust.htm A thumbnail history at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsourc...caust/lodz.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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