German East Africa 1916-T 15 rupien
This specimen was lot 4210 in Künker sale 294 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €4,900 (about US$6,604 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"REICHSGOLDMÜNZEN, DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKA, 15 Rupien 1916, T, Tabora. Geprägt mit Gold aus der Sekenke-Goldmine in Ostafrika. Selten in dieser Erhaltung. Prachtexemplar. Vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (unified gold coinage, German East Africa, fifteen rupees of 1916, Tabora mint, struck from locally mined gold. Scarce in this quality, prooflike, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
This type, struck in Africa by the local army commander, is expensive but not rare. There were nine similar pieces in this auction. The British eventually conquered the region and kept it as a League of Nations mandate after the war, with a small slice hacked off and awarded to Belgium. The Belgian part is now Rwanda and Burundi and the British part is Tanzania.
Recorded mintage: KM 16.1 (9,803) + KM 16.2 (6,395).
Specification: 7.16 g, 0.750 fine gold.
Catalog reference: J. 728a, KM 16.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 294: Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871 | Russische Münzen und Medaillen, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.
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