German East Africa 1916-T 20 heller
This specimen was lot 1490 in Stephen Album sale 32 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2018), where it sold for $105.75. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMAN EAST AFRICA: Wilhelm II, 1891-1918, AE 20 heller, 1916-T, obverse B: small crown, reverse B: pointed tips on L's, traces of original red luster, PCGS graded MS63 BR. Captain Looff of the cruiser SMS Königsberg ordered his ship scuttled, but not before everything of use was removed, including parts from which a minting machine was built for the Tabora mint. The metal for this mintage was obtained from spent cartridges and artillery shell casings." This type, struck in Africa by the local army commander, is not rare but appears in a bewildering array of varieties deriving from the handmade dies. 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.
Recorded mintage: 300,000 in copper plus 1,600,000 in brass.
Specification: copper (KM 15) or brass (KM 15a).
Catalog reference: KM-15.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 32, featuring the Don Erickson Collection of German Coins, Part II and the Hazerfans Collection of Ottoman Empire Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2018.
Link to:
- German East Africa 1916-T 15 rupien
- Coins and currency dated 1916
- return to coins of German East Africa