Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
0.42 Mark Gold
| Issuer | Stadt Wetzlar (City of Wetzlar) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central dark-blue letterpress vignette panel carrying the denomination '0.42 MARK GOLD' in large numerals, flanked on either side by panels inscribed '1/10 DOLLAR', all set within an ornate scrollwork cartouche. Above the denomination vignette, the legend 'WERTBESTÄNDIGER NOTGELDSCHEIN' is printed in bold gothic capitals, while below the cartouche a three-paragraph German text block states the note's backing in Reichs treasury bonds and authorisation by the Reich Finance Minister, dated 'Wetzlar, den 20. November 1923'. The lower portion bears the issuing authority line 'Der Bürgermeister der Stadt Wetzlar', a manuscript signature, and the series letter and serial number in red; a stub at right repeats the denomination vertically alongside a small green city arms underprint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Altes Siegel der Stadt Wetzlar. Februar 1377. MÖHL |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Wetzlar's notgeld program in 1923 sits squarely in the hyperinflation emergency, when municipal authorities across Germany were effectively forced to issue their own fractional currency as Reichsbank notes became worthless faster than they could be printed. The "Gold Mark" denomination is the telling detail here — by mid-1923, ordinary paper mark values were meaningless within hours of issue, so many municipalities pegged their notgeld to the gold mark as a stabilization fiction, giving the currency at least notional purchasing power.
Scharfes Druckerei was a local Wetzlar press, which kept production costs and turnaround times manageable during a period when the logistics of commissioning outside printers had become nearly impossible.