I have just bought a bracelet of these coins. Researching them I found that they were mostly 'remelted' but nowhere does it say why. I thought maybe there was a Nazi symbol on them because they were minted during the occupation, but I can't find one. Does anyone know the reason and how many were melted down? There seem to be lots for sale.
According to this page it is not 1944P but 1944D that were melted - https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces2838.html
not sure why, or what D or P stands for. Unless they are the USA
mints Denver or Philadelphia.
ZacUK has it right; during WWII many occupied countries had provisional issues of coins and banknotes minted/printed in the United States, one of which was the Netherlands and its colonies.
The 1941-43 zinc 1-25 cent coins minted for use in the Netherlands by occupation authorities do not have the American mintmarks (for obvious reasons), but they didn't have any German or Nazi symbols on them either.
That is so interesting. Many thanks. Strange to think that coins were minted in the US during the war for an enemy occupied country. Curious to know why? and indeed how they got them there. Were they maybe issued to the liberating troops?
I don't have any information on the hows and whys. Certainly, by the end, the Germans had taken absolutely everything that could be carried away, so to re-establish normal life after liberation every manner of goods would be required, including coinage.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
Απόσπασμα: "Ashfish47"That is so interesting. Many thanks. Strange to think that coins were minted in the US during the war for an enemy occupied country. Curious to know why? and indeed how they got them there. Were they maybe issued to the liberating troops?
That's certainly the case for some coins like the 1944 France and Belgium 2 Francs issues, but in many cases like your own, those coins were commissioned by the government-in-exile of that occupied country. Coins issued by occupying authorities during WWII tend to be in cheap metals such as steel, zinc and aluminium, because of the war effort at the time.
Remember the coins were still minted in silver then and much of Europe was in ruins and in need of reconstruction, melting those coins may have paid back a little of the monetary debt to the USA.
That's a good point. Lovely to get so much information from you all. What I suddenly realised is that the year on the coins is 1944 and that is the year my children's father was born - he is very unwell at the moment so I think this bracelet will mean a lot to my daughter. The history of the coins is particularly poignant as most of my mother's family went to the concentration camps.
Thanks, have a good Christmas and Happy New Year for 2019.
Απόσπασμα: "Ashfish47"That is so interesting. Many thanks. Strange to think that coins were minted in the US during the war for an enemy occupied country. Curious to know why? and indeed how they got them there. Were they maybe issued to the liberating troops?
Many people are aware of the World War II era coins minted by U. S. Mints for foreign governments, but the fact is that between 1876 and 1963 (before the Franklin Mint minted any coins), the U. S. government mints had minted a total of 782 different coins for 36 countries. Most of these were minted in Philadelphia, but San Francisco, Denver and New Orleans also participated at times.
Coins minted for foreign governments must be minted after U. S. demand is met, and the dates are as requested by the foreign government--not necessarily the year of mintage.
The book "Foreign Coins Struck at U. S. Mints" (1965) by Altz and Barton documents these coinages, and ties them to U. S. Mint Reports. The Netherlands homeland 10 cents coins do not appear in the 1943 report, but are listed in the 1944 report. It is presumed that they were minted in the fiscal year from July 1, 1943 to June 30, 1944. (Both 1943 and 1944 dates exist.)
The coins would not have been minted for an enemy government. They were minted for the government-in-exile. There were also coins minted for the Dutch colonies.
Απόσπασμα: "halfdisme"
The book "Foreign Coins Struck at U. S. Mints" (1965) by Altz and Barton documents these coinages, and ties them to U. S. Mint Reports.
if you learn of a copy of this book for sale please let me know.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
Απόσπασμα: "halfdisme"
The book "Foreign Coins Struck at U. S. Mints" (1965) by Altz and Barton documents these coinages, and ties them to U. S. Mint Reports.
if you learn of a copy of this book for sale please let me know.
There are about 10 copies of the book available on Amazon, for $85 and up.
I have an extra that I bought when a coin bookseller was moving; I would sell it for $75 plus shipping.
