Danzig 1 Schilling

The Danzig 1 Schilling's most striking feature is its depiction of the city's iconic gate, a nod to the medieval fortifications that outlasted the coin's brief era of use.

Minted from 1923 to 1939 in Berlin, these coins served the Free City of Danzig, a sliver of territory carved out by the Treaty of Versailles. Each piece was struck in cupro-nickel, with designs that included the city arms on one side and a value wreath on the other. Production numbers vary by year, but records from the later 1930s are spotty, likely lost amid the chaos of impending war.

As for circulation, it was strictly local—meant for markets and tram fares in Danzig alone. I've seen plenty of these over the years; they're often mistaken for German marks, which isn't surprising given the politics.

That said, exact mintages for 1927, for instance, remain unclear, burned in some forgotten archive fire.