Antisemitic Aluminum Coin: “Whether Jew or Christian, a Usurious Scoundrel” – Engraver Friedrich Wilhelm Hörnlein. Germany, 1923
Obverse: A stereotypical, unclothed Jewish figure is depicted sitting on a pile of grain with open hands, accompanied by the inscription: “OB JUD OB CHRIST” – EIN SCHUFT, meaning “Whether Jew or Christian – a scoundrel, ” and beneath it, “DER WUCHERER IST, ” translating to “The usurer is one who charges excessive interest.”
Reverse: The inscription reads, “IN BÖSEN ZEITEN IST OHN ZWEIFEL EIN MENSCH OFT DES ANDERN TEUFEL 1923,” which translates to “In bad times, without a doubt, one man is often another’s devil.”
The phrase “in bad times” refers to the year 1923, during a severe economic crisis following World War I. Germany suffered from extreme hyperinflation. Though the causes of inflation in Germany during the 1920s were numerous, antisemitic forces often blamed “rich Jews” for the economic disaster. The stereotype of the Jew exploiting the weak and profiting during crises was widespread in Germany after World War I. At that time, Germans produced many antisemitic caricatures on banknotes and coins, depicting Jews as the cause of the crisis and calling for their removal from Germany and the extermination of the Jewish people.
Diameter: 38 mm. Minor defects. Good condition.
