Catalog
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| Issuer | German Reich |
|---|---|
| Year | 1936-1939 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Aluminium bronze |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Deutsches Reich 1939 (Translation: German Reich 1939) |
| Reverse description | The large numeral 5 dominates the central field, rendered in a bold Gothic-influenced typeface. Flanking the base of the numeral and curving along the lower portion of the coin is a sprig of oak leaves, a traditional German national symbol. The curved legend REICHSPFENNIG runs along the upper periphery in Gothic (Fraktur) script, and the mint mark letter appears at the base of the design, between the oak sprigs. |
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| Additional information |
The aluminium bronze 5 Reichspfennig replaced an earlier zinc composition in 1936, a change driven less by economics than by the regime's desire for coinage that photographed and filmed well for propaganda purposes — zinc struck poorly and looked dull on camera. Production ran across Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, and Karlsruhe mints simultaneously, making mint mark attribution essential to any serious collection of the type.
By 1940 the formula changed again as wartime metal demands began gutting civilian coinage alloys. The 1936–1939 aluminium bronze window is consequently the last of this denomination struck to a pre-war standard.