German Collector Coins – Where Are the Collectors?

When I got off the underground at Rödingsmarkt in Hamburg on the morning of 23 November 2023, I looked in the direction of the Bundesbank’s main office. What I saw was downright astonishing: nothing. No queue, no people. And even once I got closer, there was nothing that would have suggested that a magnificent new collector’s coin would be released that day. A few bank employees enjoyed their first cigarette break of the day in front of the building. There was no big poster with helpful advice for a line of waiting collectors, just a small sign hidden behind a door indicated that the first specimens of the 25-euro silver coin “Erzgebirgischer Schwibbogen” could be purchased at face value on this day.

In November 2022, a long queue formed outside the Bundesbank offices in Hamburg. Photo: Sebastian Wieschowski

Security Guards Accompanied Collectors to the Bank Counter

One year earlier, on 24 November 2022, things looked quite differently. As early as two hours before the bank opened, there were people waiting in the freezing cold outside the building. Anticipating the situation, bank clerks had set up two waiting areas: one exclusively for the issue of the collector coin and another one for “all other business”. When things finally got moving at 8.30 a.m., the line for the collector coin had grown to roughly 200 people and spread onto the adjacent pavement. In groups of four, collectors were admitted to the Bundesbank’s lobby accompanied by security guards. Then the elevator took them to the Mount Olympus of any collector of contemporary German coinage – the bank counters on the second floor.

This year, those who wanted to get a specimen of the new Christmas coin did not even have to wait in line to fulfil their goal. Occasionally, individual collectors had to wait in front of a counter. But what happened at the counters themselves left many a coin enthusiast baffled: “What do you want?”, they were asked by listless employees. Soon thereafter, the bank clerk responsible for handing out coins – obviously, German officialese has a perfectly unflattering and sterile name for that position (Geldbearbeiter) – shoved the mint state silver coins over the counter’s metal surface towards the customer.

Nothing is going on outside the Bundesbank: on 23 November 2023, only a few collectors wanted to get their hands on a specimen of the new Christmas coin at the Bundesbank.

Annoyed Collectors Due to Defective Quality

We cannot know for sure whether the scratches and dents that are visible on close inspection of the coin were caused by this handling or whether they had already been there before. The milk spots that can be found on some of the silver coins, however, are most likely a result of the production process itself. “At least this time there’s no colour on it that is bound to fall off later,” muttered an elderly woman after having received her coin at the counter.

On my way home, I too began to wonder: what is happening in the world of German coins? As a reporter, I’ve been on site to cover the issue of new collector coins at the Bundesbank for many years. I feel nostalgic when I think of the release date of the first polymer ring coins from the “Climate zones of the Earth” series. It truly was an event worthwhile of barely getting any sleep. You could pass the time in the queue by talking to fellow collectors. And, most importantly, after the morning, you felt an actual sense of achievement: you had received a coin whose value to collectors was at least a few euros above face value.

Scratches, dents, milk spots: it is hard to get into the holiday mood when looking at this specimen of the 25-euro Christmas silver coin. Photo: Sebastian Wieschowski

Interest in New Issues Has Been Declining for Years

But even the release of the new two-euro commemorative coins of the second “Bundesländer” (Germany’s federal states) series earlier this year left me disappointed as a passionate collector and critical reporter: In Hamburg, of all places, the issue of the commemorative circulation coin featuring the Elbphilharmonie concert hall – Hamburg’s new landmark! –attracted as little as a few dozen collectors. It appeared that everyone else stayed home, knowing that there was a good chance of finding a coin with a mintage figure of 30 million specimens in circulation at some point.

There are always two sides of the same coin – this truism also applies to the demand for collector coins. Sure, many people in Germany have enough to worry about at the moment without getting up early for a silver coin. And of course collectors also benefit from the fact of not having to wait for hours in front of a bank office to get their treasure. But isn’t every collector a hunter, too? And isn’t a certain hunting instinct part of the passion that we coin collectors share? What’s more: who would be opposed to saving some money on shipment and dealers’ fees by purchasing the latest coins at face value?

Other institutions such as the Austrian Mint demonstrate how hunting coins can still be fun in 2023: appropriate mintage figures that keep the rarity well balanced, combined with impeccable quality and fascinating innovations create a successful strategy that makes sure that it is worthwhile to get up a little earlier to expand one’s collection. In Germany, certain improvements could be made. How about, for example, issuing several collector coins on the same day? (Last year, the “insect” coins were released in addition to the Christmas coin.) Or releasing coins on a Saturday (enabling those who work during the week to include a stop at the Bundesbank on their weekend shopping spree)? And, besides, it would be a good idea to examine both the quality and the quantity of German collector coins to prevent loyal collectors who actually make the trip to the Bundesbank from being disappointed.