Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 9/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: hi,
i have a coin  that on 1 side its - "5 FR 1947 " with a crawn on it.
on the other side it says "leopold 3 roi des belges "
what is interesting is that when i tern the coin in his sid the head is up side down....!
can you tell me how much it worth? and if its fake?

ANSWER: Hi Ziv,
These coins were made of zinc, which usually forms white spots. These white spots are a sure sign that you have a genuine zinc coin. Such coins were minted during the German occupation of WWII.
The reason that the sides of the coin are upside down in relation to each other is because Belgium used the "coin alignment" for most of their coins. This is true for the majority of nations; the US is one of the few that mints coins with the "medal alignment" where both sides are struck in the same direction.
As for value... there re two varieties. The really rare one has the German legend "Der Belgen" and runs from $150 in low grade to $1,500 in top condition.
Your coin (with the French "Des Belges" legend) is not as rare, but still key date. A decent circulated example with some white spots and no corrosion starts at around $25-$30 and goes up as high as $200+ for an uncircualted coin. For comparison, the common dates from the series run from $1 or less to about $10 in the same relative conditions.
Please don't forget to rate this answer.
Thanks for the question! =)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi,
thank you responding so quickly.
i have 1 more question...
i have a coin or may be a medal,its says "zehntes deutsches bundesschiessen berlin 1890"
on 1 side ther is a paint of a man holding a gun with his right hand and a shield is next to his left leg and left hand is on the shild. he have a hat and a moustache.
on the other side its a little hard to explane what you see...its acaind of a view with gun and a flag crossing on the buttom and a shield with a lion on the top.
are you familiar with it? , can you estimate it?
thank you.
ziv

Answer
Hi again Ziv,
Please see the attached photo, I believe this is the medal you have. This is a "Schutzenfest" or Shooting Festival medal.
These were held every year in various cities. Some of the more well known shooting medals come from Switzerland, but German and Austro-Hungarian medals have some value as well.
You medal, in good condition, would sell for around 75-80 euros on the European market, which is around $110-$115.
Thanks again! =)