Catalog
1 Pfennig - Berlin A. Gutschow
| Issuer | A. Gutschow, Berlin |
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| Year | |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Within a beaded border, the large numeral '1' occupies the central field. The circular legend 'A. GUTSCHOW BERLIN S.W. 48' runs along the periphery, identifying the issuing merchant establishment. The design is plain and utilitarian, characteristic of WWI-era German notgeld coinage. |
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| Reverse description | The central field displays the large numeral '1' enclosed within a rope or twisted wreath border. The circular legend 'KLEINGELDERSATZMARKE' runs along the upper periphery within a beaded border, identifying this token as a small change substitute. Three five-pointed stars are positioned along the lower portion of the field, beneath the central numeral. |
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| Additional information |
A. Gutschow was a Berlin-based merchant or business concern that issued notgeld-style token coinage — almost certainly during the iron shortage years of World War I, when the imperial government's inability to maintain adequate small change pushed countless private firms to fill the gap themselves. Iron was the material of necessity, not preference, adopted across German private issues precisely because copper and nickel had been redirected to the war economy by 1916.
The Menzel reference numbers place this firmly in the catalogued German trade token literature, though Gutschow itself leaves little historical trace beyond the token.