Danzig Y3 - 1 pfennig 1937

[Figleaf]

This was fired by a remark Dale made. I picked up this beauty on a Berlin "Flohmarkt", where it was biding its time amidst Chinese type imitations of very expensive coins, like the 5 Gulden 1923 of the same series. The seller never claimed the others were real, but didn't say they were false either. The price of ?15 was a clear giveaway, though. Too little to be real, too much to be cheap. I got no price concession on the pfennig, but when he saw my interest, he pulled a 2 pfennig out of the "metal stuff" department of his "stock" (a bucket full of useless metal objects of all sizes) and allowed me to buy that also.

The free city of Gdansk was predominantly populated by (imported) Germans, so that after the first World War, it remained "independent" and thereby became the trigger for the second world war. Although full of interesting architecture, communism reduced it to a sad, grimy place known only for bad, cheap ships and coal burning. The Solidarity movement, one of the first signs of how the Soviet empire had been hollowed out started in Gdansk, returning pride to the city.

Peter

[BC Numismatics]

Peter,that is a very nice coin.The Danzig coin series is an extremely difficult one to collect,especially from the 5 Pfennig right up to the 5 Gulden.The gold 10 Gulden is unobtainable,unless you have several million US$ to spare.

Aidan.

[Prosit]

I have no great expectations that I might someday have the ability to travel the world but if I could have my fondest wish, I think it would be to visit some Austrian Flohmarkt on a regular basis   

I just know I could really advance my token collection in leaps and bounds!

That is a great looking coins a a very nice find.

Dale