Austria - Nazi Swastika counterstamp - Groschen 1927

April 2024

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The book on world counterstamps was written by Mr. Gregory Brunk. In the section on Austria he has several types of Austrian coins that were counterstamped by Nazi sympathisers in Austria before and after the Anschluss, or the unification of Austria and Germany under the Third Reich. Some thin armed swastikas are considered fantasies that were issued for sale to collectors in the 1960's and '70's. When this specimen was found the counterstamp had been filled with a dark material, after cleaning the C/S was revealed to be the thick armed style that is generally considered to be the type issued for propaganda purposes in the late 1930's and early 1940's. The host coin is an Austrian Groschen of 1927, showing wear on the reverse of the C/S, indicating some circulation after the return to circulation post C/S. This authentic thick armed variety is shown in "Medallic Portraits of Adolf Hitler" by Colbert and Hyder in the introduction section. There it is stated that these counterstamped pieces were made and issued following the leader (Dollfuss) of Austria's ban (1932 - 1933) on Nazi insignia, uniforms and propaganda as a way of keeping the thought of Nazi unification in peoples' minds. RARE!