Tom Koch raised the question last night why the German mints were not identified by the first letter of their respective cities, i.e. Berlin is A, why not B - Hamburg is J, why not H. Way back into the empire days the German mints were named in alphabetical order. So that A (the first one) was Berlin, B was Hanover, and so forth. One of the German mints was even in Vienna and took the mint mark of the Hanover mint (B). The letters we have now (A,D,F,G,J) are the mints that are remaining, i.e.. B,C,E and H are no longer minting coins or printing currency. The only deactivated mints that I could find out about was B-Hanover and E-Muldenhütten near Dresden. The latter of the two was pressed into service again during the division of Germany and minted coins for the DDR for approx. 5 years. (And before someone asks - the other DDR mint was located in Berlin and had a mint mark of A). Klaus Dieter Cook, Houston, Texas

Thank you, Klaus. I assume there is still a German mint in Wien, but it is not making Deutschmarks. I wish I had gotten some Austrian coins, maybe that would have been possible in Liechtenstein. I think of Austria as being German too, although I have read that Wien is an international city. Also Alsace/Lorraine - my trip to Germany also included Strassbourg, although, strangely enough, they did not understand my Deutsch there. My language requirement at the University of Minnesota was completed by my four years of High School German und two German history courses. One was on Germany from 1648 to 1870, which greatly involved Österreich, at least until the end. The other course I took was Austrian History from 1918 to present. I was in favor of the Anschluss, but not the fact that it took place under Nazi rule. At one point, it seemed as though the Habsburgs of Austria would rule all of Europe - they ruled the Holy Roman Empire, the Austo-Hungarian Empire, the Spanish throne und the Netherlands. France und England were able to break up this coalition. The infamous or famous French Queen Marie Antoinette was also a Habsburg. Thomas Koch ----- Original Message ----- From: Klaus Dieter Cook <kcook@signalgraphics-hou.com> To: <GERMAN-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:47 PM Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] Mint Marks on German Coins > Tom Koch raised the question last night why the German mints were not > identified by the first letter of their respective cities, i.e. Berlin is A, > why not B - Hamburg is J, why not H. > > Way back into the empire days the German mints were named in alphabetical > order. So that A (the first one) was Berlin, B was Hanover, and so forth. > One of the German mints was even in Vienna and took the mint mark of the > Hanover mint (B). The letters we have now (A,D,F,G,J) are the mints that are > remaining, i.e.. B,C,E and H are no longer minting coins or printing > currency. > > The only deactivated mints that I could find out about was B-Hanover and > E-Muldenhütten near Dresden. The latter of the two was pressed into service > again during the division of Germany and minted coins for the DDR for > approx. 5 years. (And before someone asks - the other DDR mint was located > in Berlin and had a mint mark of A). > > Klaus Dieter Cook, > Houston, Texas > > > ==== GERMAN-LIFE Mailing List ==== > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this mail list send a message to: > GERMAN-LIFE-L-request@rootsweb.com and in the message add the word UNSUBSCRIBE and send. > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > >