This month’s acquisitions were not as numerous as last months. I only bought a couple of small groups of coins, but also acquired some banknotes along with them. The majority of the coins bought had a silver content, and this was due in part because I have recently started looking into what is known as ‘stacking’. I will create a post going into further detail about this later in the future, but to summarise it succinctly, it is the process of purchasing precious metals, be it in coin or bullion form, in the aim of creating a significant investment stockpile. I personally think this might be a good idea if I am collecting coins seriously, as it could possibly finance further purchases in the future, but also act as a fall-back pension scheme because the way my country is being run….I will be lucky to live long enough to get one…
Now the coins I got came from three different countries, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Roughly half of them contain a silver content. Overall the coins themselves are not overly interesting. The designs are rather lacklustre, and although not pictured here, the German coins right at the bottom of the picture date from the Nazi regime of the 1930’s-40’s. The reverse is not shown, due to obvious reasons, but in my personal opinion, I feel items of this nature shouldn’t be hid or shunned. They allow historians, archaeologists, and others to approach sensitive subjects and crack them open for debate and discourse. Sweeping distasteful history and subjects under the rug over the fear of offending a persons sensibilities does a disservice for the general population as a whole. By denying the chance to educate people about why these events happened, we run the risk of these events repeating themselves. Something which frighteningly is looming on the horizon. However, small political rant over, the banknotes are much more interesting items to discuss this time.
These banknotes were part of a single lot, along with the German coins shown in the previous photo. Now the main reason I bought the group was not because of the coins, or in fact three fifths of the banknotes present. No, the main reason was the two banknotes on the far left of the picture. These two brightly coloured notes are what are known as ‘Notgeld’. Predominantly a staple of Germany and Austria circulated during the inter-war years of WWI and WWII. They are one, if not the most, of my favourite things in the numismatic world. Each note is brightly decorated with scenes, architecture or local myths and legends of each town which issued the banknote. They are not dissimilar to the trade token coinage used in London during the 18th century, or the company coinage used in remote mining towns across the US back in the day (and many other examples besides). Albeit the German examples can sometimes be described as works of art in some cases. I generally purchase these things every chance I get, and have actually amassed a small forest of these things. I remember last year whilst visiting the Netherlands buying every single one from an antique market stall in Amsterdam. I got a few funny looks whilst going through airport security on my way back with over 300 banknotes in my possession. Suffice to say, I could wax lyrical about these things, but I think that too would be a perfect subject for another blog post at a later date.
Numismatic Exploits 