Germany 1892-J 10 pfennig
This specimen was lot 4878 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €2,900 (about US$3,805 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"REICHSKLEINMÜNZEN, 10 Pfennig 1892, J. Von großer Seltenheit. Kl. Randfehler, schön-sehr schön. (Germany, ten pfennig of 1892, Hamburg mint. Extremely rare, small rim nick, fine to very fine.)"
This coin is a copper-nickel ten pfennig from a type issued 1890-1915 from six mints, including the Hamburg (mintmark "J") mint. For some reason, this is a rare date. 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. The ten pfennig was originally copper-nickel but was switched to iron in 1915 to save materials for the war effort.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 4 g, copper-nickel, 21 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 12, J-13.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- 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]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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