Germany 1916-A 1/2 mark

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This coin is a silver half mark from a type issued 1905-19 from the Berlin (mintmark "A", shown here), Munich (mintmark "D"), Muldenhutten (mintmark "E"), Stuttgart (mintmark "F"), Karlsruhe (mintmark "G") and Hamburg (mintmark "J") mints. 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 pre-war silver half marks are not rare but the 1915-19 issues were almost completely hoarded, making them common today in all grades.

Recorded mintage: 9,750,000.

Specification: 2.77 g, 0.900 fine silver, .080 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: KM-17.

Source:

• 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, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.

Link to:

• 1915-D ½ mark
• 1915-F ½ mark
• 1915-J ½ mark
• Germany 1916-A kopek
• Germany 1916-J kopek
• Germany 1916-A 2 kopeks
• Germany 1916-J 2 kopeks
• 1916-E pfennig
• 1916-D ½ mark
• 1916-E ½ mark
• 1916-G ½ mark
• 1916-F mark
• Wurttemberg 1916-F 3 mark
• 1917-D ½ mark
• Coins and currency dated 1916