In addition to the spies honored during World War II, five other coins were minted commemorating Division Chiefs within the Stasi. These coins are much larger and were minted in limited quantities. Click here for an actual size comparison.

A German communist who fought against the Nazis in a Soviet partisan detachment. He was killed in 1944 and was designated a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Richard Sorge

Posing as a German journalist in Japan during World War II, Sorge's spy ring was instrumental in passing vital secrets to Moscow, including the information that Germany was going to invade the Soviet Union. Stalin, though, ignored the warning. Sorge was captured by Japanese counterintelligence agents in October 1941 and was executed Nov 7, 1942. Twenty years after his death he was made a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Max Clausen

Clausen served as Richard Sorge's radio operator in Japan. Captured when the Sorge spy ring was exposed in 1941, Clausen remained a prisoner of the Japanese until released by the Americans after WWII.

Avrid Harnack

A member of the famed Rote Kappelle (Red Orchestra) Soviet spy ring, Avrid Harnack was a Minster in the Third Reich's Economic Department and thus had contacts which enabled him to obtain German military intelligence. Included in his network was Lt. Harro Boysen who also had access to sensitive information in the Air Ministry.

Harro Boysen

Part of Arvid Harnack's wing of the Rote Kappelle, Lt. Harro Boysen was a member of the German Luftwaffe and held a high position in the Air Ministry. Boysen transmitted military secrets to the Soviets via radio transmission.  He was captured and executed in 1942.

Ilse Stobe

Another member of the Rote Kappelle spy ring, Ilse Stobe is the only woman featured on the Stasi coins. She was executed in Berlin on Dec 22, 1942, with 10 other members of the spy ring, including Harro Boysen and Avrid Harnack.

Rudolph Abel

Born William Fischer by German parents, this Soviet spy served in a variety of positions within Soviet intelligence.  Taking the name of Rudolph Abel after the real Abel died, Fischer was sent to America in 1948 to reorganize the Soviet "illegal" spy network in the U.S. Fischer was arrested by the FBI in 1957 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was released in 1962 in exchange for downed U-2 pilot Gary Powers. Fisher died of lung cancer in Moscow in 1971.

Stasi Division Chief Coins

Col. Richard Stahlmann

Division Chief, Foreign Intelligence

 His real name was Artur Illner, and he was one of the architects of the early Stasi. Known as "Richard the Partisan" during the Spanish Civil War, Stahlmann was the "go to guy" to get things done as the young East German spy agency started operations. The reverse side of the coin states only three words: "Communist, Internationalist, Chekist"

 Division Chief for Counter Intelligence Passport Control

Chief, Neubrandenburg District 1951-1965

Stasi Division Chief for Personal Protection