Germany, 2 & 5 Reichsmark 1937, Paul Von Hindenburg issue

[capnbirdseye]

Germany 3rd Reich,  2 Reichsmark, Swastica- Hindenburg issue with scarcest mintmark G for Karlsruhe

[chrisild]

What a (cough) beauty. And yes, in that year the "G" piece had the lowest mintage ...

Christian

[Prosit]

As to the design, I think it attractive enough. The portrait could have been a wee bit smaller and the font different.
I wouldn't jump right to calling it a beauty though 
Dale

What a (cough) beauty. And yes, in that year the "G" piece had the lowest mintage ...

Christian

[Figleaf]

You may want to give it a treatment with a soft eraser. Judging from the hair, there's a reasonable coin under the grime. There'll be two spots on the reverse, though.

Peter

[Prosit]

I don't care for the eraser treatment and don't like the results. First time I tried that was likely in the 1970's and give it a go on unimportant coins ocassionally even now. I still don't like the results. I would definite put it in acetone and use my nylon bristle brush on it.
Dale

You may want to give it a treatment with a soft eraser. Judging from the hair, there's a reasonable coin under the grime. There'll be two spots on the reverse, though.

Peter

[capnbirdseye]

I also discovered the 5 reichsmark of the same series, & another Hindenburg coin without the swastica

[<k>]

Interesting theory, villa. By 1937, however, Hitler was much more established, and so was his terror. Would you want to risk handing over defaced money in the shops in 1937? Also, would anti-Nazis have defaced Hindenburg's portrait? Hindenburg, in his more lucid moments, greatly disliked the Nazis and only appointed Hitler with great reluctance when things appeared to have reached an impasse.

It was Hindenburg's class who came closest to assassinating Hitler (in 1944). Hindenburg had, of course, done Hitler the great favour of being old, senile, and dying early on in the Third Reich, so that Hitler could make himself Führer. The use of Hindenburg's portrait is therefore rather cynical, as the Nazis thought of themselves as revolutionaries and generally despised aristocratic reactionaries. However, they cleverly latched onto Hindenburg's nationalism and respectability by using his portrait, to claim a bit of his cachet for themselves.

[chrisild]

The "theme sides" of both the Garrison Church and Hindenburg coins were designed by the very same artist, Alfred Vocke. He was a professor/teacher at various academies, and became a professor at the VS (Vereinigte Staatsschulen für freie und angewandte Kunst) in Berlin in October 1933. Don't know about his political views, but four years later he was fired because he had a Jewish wife.

Christian

[<k>]

The "theme sides" of both the Garrison Church and Hindenburg coins were designed by the very same artist, Alfred Vocke.

Christian

The Garrison Church design is one of the ugliest and most rudimentary I have ever seen on a (relatively) modern coin.

[Andrey5]

There were three commemorative themes on Nazi coins: the Garrison Church with date, Luther and Schiller. If the reason for the first theme is clear enough, why did the Nazi propaganda singled out Luther and Schiller?

[chrisild]

The Garrison Church design is one of the ugliest and most rudimentary I have ever seen on a (relatively) modern coin.

I don't like it, just as I do not like that Hindenburg coin, but we need to keep in mind that both were issued for ideological reasons. The new (nazi-dominated) government wanted to emphasize the link between the Prussian kings (location) and the 1871 monarchy (the 21 March date) on one hand, and the "new empire" on the other hand. The Garrison Church, and also Hindenburg - somebody who preferred the old authoritarian system over that democratic republic he was president of - were thus "suitable" symbols ...

From the regime's point of view, picking the tower of that military church only (vertically) and adding the date (horizontally) made sense, I think. And Hindenburg, he did have a kind of "boofy" appearance. See the attached image of a 5 RM coin (there was also a 3 RM piece) which was issued for the tenth anniversary of the Weimar Constitution. It shows Hindenburg who at that time was alive and, hm, well.

Christian

[chrisild]

There were three commemorative themes on Nazi coins: the Garrison Church with date, Luther and Schiller. If the reason for the first theme is clear enough, why did the Nazi propaganda singled out Luther and Schiller?

Hitler was appointed on 30 January 1933, and I am sure that the Martin Luther coin, issued a little later, had already been "in the pipeline" before. Note for example the wrong first S in the word "Deutsches" and the edge inscription in Antiqua/Roman; that was fixed on later issues.

Schiller is a little strange indeed, but I guess this is another case of emphasizing the continuity which the nazis initially found important. Also, the last commemorative issue before Hitler came into power was the Goethe (3 and 5 RM) coins, and Goethe and Schiller are often considered to be the most important German writers ...

Edit - I just looked this up in Helmut Caspar's book "Vom Taler zum Euro". He says that both the Luther and the Schiller coin (the issues, that is, not the final designs) had already been planned before 1933.

Christian

[capnbirdseye]

Here is my version of the 5 reichsmark without the swastica

[chrisild]

Sure, I like such an eagle better than one with a swastika. But it is primarily the other side, with his portrait, that I am not fond of ...

Christian

[Prosit]

The portrait is square and blocky but as far as I know so was the man.
Looking at the image it looks to me like if he made his mind up you didn't want to be the one to try to change it.
Dale

Sure, I like such an eagle better than one with a swastika. But it is primarily the other side, with his portrait, that I am not fond of ...

Christian