Germany 1874-G 20 pfennig
This specimen was lot 75120 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2025), where it sold for $105. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Empire. 20 Pfennig, 1874-G. Karlsruhe Mint. Wilhelm I. NGC MS-66." This coin is a silver fifty pfennig from a type issued 1873-77 from the Karlsruhe (mintmark "G") mint. Under the German Empire of 1871-1918, the denominations of two mark and up were permitted for the formerly independent principalities while the lower denominations (one pfennig thru one mark) were minted to a unified design. When the twenty pfennig was revived in 1887, it was in copper-nickel (KM 9.1).
Recorded mintage: 3,281,267, a slightly better date.
Specification: 1.11 g, 0.900 fine silver, 16 mm diameter, reeded edge.
Catalog reference: KM-5; J-5.
- Jaeger, Kurt, Die Deutschen Münzen seit 1871, Basel: Münzen und Medaillen AG, 1982.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients, World Coins & World Paper Money, David B. Simpson Medals & World Coins Part 1, Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection, and Selections from the L. E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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