Coin of the Lodz Ghetto
Dated 1943




This is one of the coins issued by the Nazis for use by inmates of the ghetto in Lodz, Poland (the Germans had renamed it "Litzmannstadt"). Its denomination is 10 marks, though it is labeled as a "Quittung", or receipt, indicating that this is occupation money, not exchangeable for currency or goods outside the ghetto. It bears the motto, "Der Aelteste der Juden", or "The Eldest of the Jews" (echoes of classic Dark Ages antisemitism?), designating the nominal authority of the "Judenrat", or Jewish Council, the Nazi installed puppet government of the ghetto.

The composition of the coin is magnesium, since this was considered a non-strategic metal by the Germans at the time. It bears the characteristic dark gray, slightly pitted appearance of an oxidized specimen of that metal. Ghetto inmates burned many of these coins, as magnesium provides a very hot, if short-lived flame. After the war, the Polish government allegedly used the original dies to counterfeit quantities of these coins to sell as 'souvenirs'.

Surviving coins of this type are not considered particularly rare or valuable, but they provide mute testimony to one of the most tragic events in modern history.


The owner of the coin has contacted several Holocaust museums, with the intention of donating it. None has shown any interest.







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