Germany 1887-J 20 pfennig

Stack's Bowers 2025 ANA sale, lot 46801

This specimen was lot 46801 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Oklahoma City, OK, August 2025), where it sold for $85. The catalog description^[1] noted, "GERMANY. Empire. 20 Pfennig, 1887-J. Hamburg Mint. Wilhelm I. PCGS MS-64. From the Dr. Michael Vale Collection." This coin is an copper-nickel twenty pfennig from a type issued 1887-88 from the Berlin (mintmark "A"), Munich (mintmark "D"), Dresden (mintmark "E"), Stuttgart (mintmark "F"), Karlsruhe (mintmark "G") and Hamburg (mintmark "J", shown here) mints. The preceding type (KM 5) of 1873-77 was silver. A later type (KM 13), struck 1890 and 1892, had a slightly redesigned eagle. 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.

Recorded mintage: 408,209, a fairly common date.

Specifications: 6.25 g, copper-nickel, 23.1 mm diameter, plain edge.

Catalog reference: KM-9.1; J-6.

Sources:

• 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, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.

Link to:

• 1877-F 20 pfennig
• 1887-E pfennig
• 1887-A 20 pfennig
• 1887-J 20 pfennig
• 1887-A mark
• Hamburg 1887-J 20 mark
• 1888-A 20 pfennig
• 1888-G 20 pfennig
• Coins and currency dated 1887
• return to coins of Germany, Empire (1871-1918)