Hamburg 1877-J 20 mark
This specimen was lot 72208 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2023), where it sold for $840. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Hamburg. 20 Mark, 1877-J. Hamburg Mint. Free City. PCGS MS-64. Surpassed in the PCGS census by just three examples, this radiant near-Gem provides ample luster and a delightful cartwheeling nature when rotated." This type was struck 1875-84 and 1887-89. Hamburg, on the North Sea, was one of two imperial free cities permitted a continued existence under the Empire of 1871; Bremen was the other. She struck silver two, three and five mark and gold ten and twenty mark until that Empire's collapse in 1918. The Hamburg mint is still in operation, striking coins for the Federal Republic of Germany. This type was struck 1875-84 and 1887-89 and most dates are worth only melt.
Recorded mintage: 1,324,000.
Specification: 7.96 g, 0.900 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-3776; KM-602; J-210.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- 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, May 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Featuring the Richard Elliott Collection of Hooknecks, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
Link to: