Catalog
1 Mark Sparkasse
| Issuer | Städtische Sparkasse Brühl bei Köln |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | DeNG 1/2#192.1 |
| Obverse description | Brown and blue letterpress Notgeld note with a scalloped outer border enclosing a tripartite layout. The central panel bears the crowned coat of arms of Cologne in blue and white, flanked by two shield-shaped vignettes each carrying the denomination numeral '1 M' in brown script. A ribbon scroll across the upper centre carries the issuer's name, with payment text in German script to the left panel and the value inscription to the right panel; the serial number and account designation appear at the lower corners, with the redemption notice and printer's imprint printed along the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Broell 1575 Churfürstl. Hoff von Cölln D. R. G. M. 795679. |
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| Comments |
Städtische Sparkasse Brühl bei Köln was one of hundreds of municipal savings banks that issued emergency small-change notes — Kleingeldscheine — during the severe coin shortage that gripped Germany from 1916 onward. The state could not keep enough metal coinage in circulation as the war consumed copper, nickel, and zinc, pushing the burden of fractional currency down to local institutions with no formal note-issuing tradition.
Carl Flemming & Wiskott in Glogau handled enormous volumes of this municipal notgeld work, which is why their imprint appears across dozens of issuers from the same period. Brühl itself, a small Rhineland town best known for Schloss Augustusburg, had no particular monetary significance — the note exists purely because the town needed change.