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1/2 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtkasse Lübeck |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Joh. Moll K.G., Lübeck |
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| Obverse description | A bold woodcut-style vignette of a double-headed eagle with wings spread occupies the centre of the note, its breast bearing a shield divided into two fields with the denomination '1/2 Mark' inscribed in red on the lower field. The eagle is printed in black against a light underprint of repeated circular Lübeck city seal motifs. The issue date 'LÜBECK DEN 1. MAI 1921' and a serial number appear at the lower left, with two manuscript signatures at the lower right, and the printer's imprint 'JOH. MOLL K.G. LÜBECK.' in small lettering at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Wat wilstu de gehren mehr denn de alte lübsche Chr? (Translation: What more do you desire than the old Lübeck honour?) Pf. 50 Pf. No II ASMUS JESSEN |
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| Comments |
Lübeck's municipal treasury issued this Notgeld piece during the post-WWI inflationary spiral, when the Reichsbank's coin shortage forced hundreds of German municipalities to produce their own fractional emergency currency. The Stadtkasse — the city treasury itself, not a private bank — was the issuing authority, which was relatively unusual; most comparable Notgeld came through chambers of commerce or savings institutions.
Joh. Moll K.G. was a Lübeck-based printing house, and Asmus Jessen's involvement as designer reflects the period's broader tendency to commission local artists for municipal Notgeld, giving these small-denomination pieces a regional character that mass-produced currency never had.