NGC Featured Registry Set: Germany 1919-Date 200 and 500 Mark, 1923

Inflation has been in the news, so this month we look at the 1922-1923 hyper-inflation of the Weimar Republic through the 200 and 500 mark coinage of 1923.

Over 370 million 1923 200 and 500 marks were minted with a face value of around 101 billion marks. While 250 marks could buy a loaf of bread at the beginning of 1923, the price would rise to 200 billion marks by November. The entire mintage of 200 and 500 mark coins would only have bought half a loaf of bread by that time. Coins of course were replaced by banknotes with astronomical denominations.

Shoedt1 assembled all 12 coins, consisting of six 200 marks and six 500 marks all dated 1923 and minted at Germany’s various mints, in about a year. Shoedt1’s coins range from MS 63 to MS 67 and include multiple top pop coins. As less than 350 of the 200 and 500 mark coins have been graded by NGC and half of the 12 issues have graded populations of less than 10, Shoedt1 had to acquire seven coins raw and have them graded himself in order to complete the sets. Many of the coins were purchased from Europe.

The key date of the series is the 1923J 500 mark with just over a million minted. Only three have been graded, and Shoedt1’s MS 65 (second-finest) was the last coin to fall into place. It is a well-struck coin with lustrous surfaces. However, it wasn’t the rarity alone of the 1923J that delayed completion of Shoedt1’s collection — it was also bad luck. He saw two raw coins for sale and bought the better of the two. After the coin came, he accidentally discarded it with the packaging material and had to purchase the other coin.

Germany 1923J 500 Mark, NGC MS 65 Click images to enlarge.

His favorite coin, Shoedt1 says, is his 1923F 200 mark which be bought raw for $4 on ma-shops.com and had graded, resulting in an MS 67.

Germany 1923J 200 Mark, NGC MS 67 Click images to enlarge.

“European collectors tend to like ungraded specimens for their collections, so it is often possible to find some really great ungraded coins from dealers across the pond,” Shoedt1 said. “I have had excellent success buying these coins — when there is high quality imagery available — and then self-submitting to NGC for conservation and grading.”

Thank you, collectors, for your contributions to the NGC Registry and to our collecting family. We look forward to seeing your updates for the 2022 NGC Registry awards! It is sure to be an exciting adventure!

The NGC Registry is a free online platform where collectors register and display their certified coins and can compete against other collectors around the world for recognition and prizes. The NGC Registry continues to be the world’s most comprehensive online coin collecting platform thanks to you, our valued collectors. This popular resource now boasts over 28,000 users, 262,000+ registered sets and over 1.5 million registered coins. In January of 2022, we awarded more than $30,000 in prizes — the highest prize value awarded yet! Get ready for the 2022 awards! To learn more about the prizes, click here.

Would you like your set to be featured in a future article? 100% completion in a set is not always feasible. Perhaps, we will choose someone whose set has a personal story behind it or some interesting historical facts. We are looking for those sets where someone has taken the time to make the set unique and a reflection of his/her personal collecting style. It may be your set! Stay tuned.

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Credits: 2019 Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000, 46th Edition