1 Mark

Freienohl is a small village in the Sauerland region of Westphalia, and its Gemeindekasse — the municipal treasury — was among hundreds of German local authorities that issued emergency paper money during the acute coin shortage of World War One. These Kommunale Notgeldscheine filled a genuine gap: small-denomination metal coinage had essentially vanished from circulation by 1916 as metal was requisitioned for the war effort.

Municipal issues at this level were printed in short runs, often locally, and redeemed quickly once the immediate shortage eased. Survival rates tend to be low simply because nobody thought to save them at the time.