Steve B. writes: I was working around my house the other day building a stone wall. When I was finished I had a lot of leftover stone parts left but as I was cleaning up the leftover, I noticed a coin mixed in with it. The coin appears to be German. One side has Deutschs Reich along the top, Reichspfennig along the bottom and a 1 in the middle. On the flip side it has what looks like a bundle of wheat tied together and the date of 1928. Under the stalk there is a faint A stamped. You can see each line of the wheat stalk and it really doesn’t show any worn areas. Thought maybe you could tell me what this is and any value it might hold?
Though the coin doesn’t have much monetary value, your story about how you acquired it is interesting. One wonders how the coin got mixed in with your stone. The coin is from the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) the German entity that just barely kept the country from falling into chaos. Germany was already devastated by its loss in WW I and the burden of heavy reparations required by France and England. The bronze Reichspfennig (100 Reichpfennig= 1 Reichsmark) was minted from 1924-1936. The letter “A” is the mint mark and represents the Berlin Mint.
After the German monetary system collapsed in 1923, new money was issued in the name of the Weimer Republic. The “rentenpfennig” coinage was produced from 1923-1929 and overlaps the “Reichspfennig” (empire penny) which was struck from 1924-1936, then replaced by the coinage of the Third Reich.
Both coins circulated side by side and had the identical monetary value (very much like two U.S. state quarters with the same date are worth 25 cents). Though the collector value is low (under a US $1) for most of these issues, there is a rare issue of the 1924 reichspfennig with the mint mark “E”. Examples of this coin bring from about $25 – $400 depending on condition.
