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!
1 Mark
| Issuer | Gemeinde Nordseebad Wittdün auf Amrum |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Art Nouveau-style Notgeld note printed in blue and black. The large numeral '1' in blue occupies the centre, flanked symmetrically by the word 'MARK' in decorative Gothic lettering on either side, with elaborate foliate scroll borders framing the entire composition. A serial number panel and a signature panel bearing four manuscript signatures with their printed titles appear in the lower centre, and small vignettes of children in striped bathing costumes are set within the side borders. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a large central colour vignette, signed 'Karl Spethmann', presenting an aerial panoramic view of the island of Amrum as seen from above the North Sea, with sandy beaches, green terrain dotted with red-roofed buildings, and sailing vessels on the surrounding water under a sunlit sky. The vignette is enclosed within a bold rectangular frame set against an ornate Art Nouveau border of scrollwork and sea-creature motifs in blue and black. The denomination 'EINE MARK' is rendered in large decorative Gothic lettering across the lower portion, and a text inscription referencing the vote of 14 March runs along the bottom edge. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Wittdün is the sole town on Amrum, a North Frisian island of a few hundred permanent residents in 1920 — which makes this a genuinely local emergency note in the strictest sense. The postwar Notgeld wave of 1920 saw thousands of German municipalities issue small-denomination scrip to fill the coinage vacuum, but island communities like Wittdün faced the additional practical problem of irregular ferry connections to the mainland banking system.
J. C. König & Ebhardt of Hannover were prolific Notgeld printers, handling commissions from municipalities across Lower Saxony and beyond. The designer credit to Karl Spethmann is worth noting — named designers on Notgeld of this size are not always recorded.