Catalog
1 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinderat Grünhain (Federal state of Saxony) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Green and black letterpress note with a scalloped outer border and a fine guilloche underprint filling the central field. At centre, a heraldic shield vignette displays a forest of fir trees above a bear, flanked by crossed oak branches and encircled by a ribbon banner bearing the town name "Die Stadt Grünhain"; the founding and jubilee years "1267" and "1917" flank the shield at upper centre. The denomination "1 Mark" appears in ornate Fraktur script in each upper corner, validity clause and serial number occupy the lower left, and a manuscript signature of the Stadtgemeinderat is placed at lower right; the printer's imprint runs along the very bottom margin. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Grünhain is a small town in the Erzgebirge, and its municipal council — the Stadtgemeinderat — issued this note as Kriegsgeld, the emergency paper money that proliferated across German municipalities after metallic coinage effectively vanished from circulation following the outbreak of war in 1914. By 1917 the shortage was acute enough that even minor administrative bodies were authorized to issue low-denomination scrip to keep local commerce functioning.
Wiedemannsche Druckerei AG in Saalfeld was a regional commercial printer, not a specialist security firm, which makes the presence of a watermark here worth noting — a modest but deliberate concession to fraud prevention in what was otherwise utilitarian wartime production.