Lowest denominations

[mrbadexample]

Its smallest denomination was one centiemen or centime. It's not particularly small...

Peter

Well it's the smallest for Belgium so it counts. I have one with the legend in French, but was waiting to acquire a Flemish one to post the two together. 

Which of their coins have German script?

[Figleaf]

Here's an example. There are three trinkets sharing this reverse; proof only, sold way over face value.

Peter

[mrbadexample]

I already had this somewhat sorry looking specimen. Slightly bent and covered in gunk, Palestine 1 mil. Not especially small, but as far as I can see their lowest denomination.

[mrbadexample]

Another one I already had and the biggest so far. Tanzania 5 senti.

[mrbadexample]

This one's more like it. Guernsey 1 double 1893.

[Figleaf]

It might be difficult to find a more different pair than the last the coins you showed. One is resolutely modern, with a crypto-dictator and a decimal value, the other decidedly retro, with a medieval denomination and heraldry.

I challenge you to find a 20th century Travancore cash coin.

Peter

[mrbadexample]

It might be difficult to find a more different pair than the last the coins you showed. One is resolutely modern, with a crypto-dictator and a decimal value, the other decidedly retro, with a medieval denomination and heraldry.

Well I know which I prefer Peter.

I challenge you to find a 20th century Travancore cash coin.

Peter

Well now, that doesn't look terribly easy, but I like a challenge.

[malj1]

I have the four cash 1938-49

[mrbadexample]

Looks in really nice condition too Mal.

[mrbadexample]

Nice little German Empire 1 pfennig, 1904. I really like the reverse of this because it features the imperial eagle twice. Great detail.

[chrisild]

Not quite.   The big bird is the German imperial eagle, the smaller one in the center is the eagle of Prussia. Until 1890 the Prussian eagle was even bigger. That symbolism of one state dominating the others was done away with at the end of the monarchy ...

Christian

[Figleaf]

Better, but not quite yet. The whole is the crowned arms of the German Empire (not to be confused with the Holy Roman Empire, which used a bi-cephalic eagle). It consists of three "layers".

a) a mono-cephalic black eagle, topped with the crown of Charlemagne with ribbon (remnant of the HRI) bearing a breast shield and the chain and order of the Iron cross, no attributes in the claws.
b) the breast shield is a crowned, mono-cephalic black eagle with a breast shield, a scepter in the left claw and a globus cruciger in the right claw (both originally Roman symbols of royal and imperial power). This is the coat of arms of Prussia.
c) The eagle in the illustration has a breast shield with FR (Friedrich the Great) monogram, but the one on the coin has the black and silver family arms of the ruling Hohenzollern family. The lines are a heraldically correct way to indicate "colour".

Peter

[mrbadexample]

Ahh...I see.

Thank you Christian, I appreciate the correction. 

Thank you too Peter, for the extra correction. 

So the breast shield held by the Prussian eagle shows the coat of arms of the Hohenzollern family? Have I understood that correctly? I was wondering what that represented.

There's always more to these than meets the (my) eye!

[mrbadexample]

Two more recent pfennigs, one from DDR. They don't have quite the same appeal as the earlier one for me. Less ambitious designers, I feel. 

[chrisild]

To each their own. Quite a few coin collectors cherish old "ornate" designs and dislike or even despise "modern" ones. Not sure why, but that's the way it is ...

Christian