Germany 1918-D 1/2 mark
This specimen was lot 2528 in Goldberg sale 100 (Los Angeles, September 2017), where it sold for $188. The catalog description[1] noted, "Germany. ½ Mark, 1918-D. Brilliant mint luster with a hint of tone. Pop 13, 1 finer in 68+. PCGS graded MS-68." 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 1915-19 issues were almost completely hoarded, making them common today in all grades.
Recorded mintage: 3,670,000, including an 1918/05 overdate.
Specification: 2.77 g, 0.900 fine silver, .080 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM-17.
- 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]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, John Lavender, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 100: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2017.
Link to: