Catalog
1 Mark
| Issuer | Swakopmunder Buchhandlung |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1918 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a winged griffin above the monogram "SBS" within a rectangular frame, printed in green and black. Large bold letterpress denomination "Eine Mark" below, with the issuer name in red along the lower border. Dotted teal border frames the note; serial number in red at upper right under "NUMMER" heading. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gutschein NUMMER Eine Mark Swakopmunder Buchhandlung Ges. m. b. H., Swakopmund |
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| Comments |
The Swakopmunder Buchhandlung — a bookshop and stationery business in Swakopmund — issued these emergency notes after South African forces occupied German South West Africa in 1915 and conventional currency supplies collapsed. A stationery shop issuing circulating money is unusual by any measure, but the territory's isolation made improvisation necessary, and local merchants became de facto monetary authorities.
By 1916, German South West Africa was under South African military administration, meaning these notes circulated under occupation. The Buchhandlung's own printing facilities, used for commercial stationery work, made self-production straightforward.
The series ran through at least 1918, when the occupation administration moved toward more formal currency arrangements.