Danzig 1920 1 Gulden

The 1920 1 Gulden from Danzig was struck at the Berlin Mint, using dies that blended German precision with local symbolism to assert the Free City's fragile autonomy.

That makes sense, given Danzig's position as a League of Nations mandate after the Treaty of Versailles, squeezed between Poland and Germany. The coin's obverse featured the city's coat of arms—a crowned eagle with a cross—while the reverse showed a simple value and date, all on a silver planchet that reflected wartime shortages. We don't know the exact mintage; records from that era are spotty, lost in the chaos of post-war Europe.

I've handled dozens of these over the years, and people still ask if they were just Polish knockoffs. They weren't; Danzig issued its own currency until 1923, when inflation forced a switch. A mild irony: for a city defined by borders, its coins crossed them easily in trade.