Germany 1917-D 1/2 mark
This specimen was lot 74813 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2022), where it sold for $144. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Empire. 1/2 Mark, 1917-D. Munich Mint. Wilhelm II. NGC MS-67★. This is a sharply struck Superb Gem that combines universally frosty devices with prooflike reflectivity in the fields. Both dies were polished shortly before this coin was struck, a fact that is confirmed by the presence of die polish lines in the fields, demonstrating the care that went into production. Fully argent and as fresh as the day it was made, it should come as no surprise that the present coin is the single finest NGC has encapsulated to date." This coin is a silver half mark from a type issued 1905-19 from the Berlin (mintmark "A"), Munich (mintmark "D", shown here), 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 1914-19 issues were almost completely hoarded, making them common today in all grades.
Recorded mintage: unknown but a common date.
Specification: 2.77 g, 0.900 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-17; J-16.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The November 2022 Collectors Choice Ancient & World Coins Auction, Featuring the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
Link to:
- 1916-A ½ mark
- 1916-D ½ mark
- 1916-E ½ mark
- 1917-A pfennig
- 1917-D pfennig
- 1917-J pfennig
- 1917 10 pfennig, zinc
- 1917-A 10 pfennig, iron
- Hesse 1917-A 3 mark
- Saxony 1917-E 3 mark, Frederick the Wise, 400th anniversary of the Reformation
- 1918-A ½ mark
- 1918-D ½ mark
- Coins and currency dated 1917