| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 162 | Auction date: 6 November 2025 |
| Lot number: 1297 Price realized: 3,750 CHF (Approx. 4,623 USD / 4,027 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: German Empire 1871-1918 Deutsch-Ostafrika (German East Africa). Wilhelm II, 1891-1918 15 Rupien 1916, Tabora or Lulanguru mint, mint master Friedrich Schumacher, AV 7.3 g. Dies by Vatthiare, design by R. Vogt. F. 1 (p. 267, with incorrect weight and fineness indication); J. N 728a. Probably the most beautiful 'German' coin of the 20th century, featuring an elephant in front of Mount Kilimanjaro. Extremely fine NGC UNC DETAILS, REV RIM FILED (2175215-039) Purchased from Baldwin, London 30.6.1931. After importing money previously produced in Germany became impossible due to the encirclement of German East Africa by Belgian and British troops, the governor of German East Africa, in 1916 Heinrich Schnee, established a mint in Tabora. There was no skilled personnel available. He therefore appointed the mining engineer Friedrich Schumacher as head of the mint. Schumacher set up the mint with the simplest of means in a corrugated iron shed on the railway premises in Tabora. He acquired his knowledge of minting technology from nothing more than a conservation encyclopaedia. Most of the gold used for minting came from the colony's most productive mine in Seleke. The blanks were scraped and filed by seven Sinhalese gold workers from Dar es Salaam to the prescribed weight of 7.17 g (fineness 750/000). The coins were minted using a simple hydraulic press. The coin's design was created by the cashier of the railway workshop, R. Vogt. The dies themselves were cut by the Sinhalese goldsmith Vatthiare, who worked particularly carefully when he was under the influence of alcohol. Due to the high demands placed on it, the hydraulic press soon failed and minting had to be continued in Lulanguru, 25 km away, using an oil press. A total of 16,198 coins of this type were minted between 15 April and 5 September 1916. While the reverse die held, the obverse die (J. 728a) broke, probably due to the higher pressure in the oil press, so that two new dies had to be cut (J. 728b). Our piece is one of those minted with the original dies, meaning that it may actually have been produced in Tabora. Veit Didczuneit has recently thoroughly researched the exciting history of the 'gold elephants' (Die Spur der Goldelefanten. Die 15-Rupien-Münzen aus Tambora in Deutsch-Ostafrika als kolonialherrschaftliche Wertzeichen, Brandenburg 2021). Estimate: 2500 CHF |  |
