Germany 1892-J 10 pfennig

Künker sale 406, lot 4878

This specimen was lot 4878 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €2,900 (about US$3,805 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"REICHSKLEINMÜNZEN, 10 Pfennig 1892, J. Von großer Seltenheit. Kl. Randfehler, schön-sehr schön. (Germany, ten pfennig of 1892, Hamburg mint. Extremely rare, small rim nick, fine to very fine.)"

This coin is a copper-nickel ten pfennig from a type issued 1890-1915 from six mints, including the Hamburg (mintmark "J") mint. For some reason, this is a rare date. 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 ten pfennig was originally copper-nickel but was switched to iron in 1915 to save materials for the war effort.

Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.

Specification: 4 g, copper-nickel, 21 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM 12, J-13.

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, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• ^[1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.

Link to:

• 1889-E 10 pfennig
• 1892-E pfennig
• 1892-E 20 pfennig
• 1892-F mark
• 1892-G mark
• 1892-J mark
• 1898-G 10 pfennig
• Coins and currency dated 1892
• return to coins of Germany, Empire (1871-1918)