Catalog
1 Rupie
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Rupee |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A typeset emergency Interims-Banknote with the German Imperial eagle vignette at upper left, the central text block bearing the issuing bank's name, promise-to-pay clause, denomination in both numerals and words, place of issue (Daressalam/Tabora), date of 1 November 1915, and authority inscription. Two manuscript signatures in the lower portion, one rendered in violet ink, appear beneath the branch designation Zweigniederlassung Daressalam. The entire note is framed by a guilloche border of repeating cross ornaments. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse bears a handstamped or overprinted letter Z identifying the Tabora branch series, with two original serial numbers crossed out and two replacement serial numbers inscribed by hand, a practice reflecting the wartime reissue and revalidation procedures of the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank. |
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| Comments |
The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank's wartime Rupie issues are among the most unusual colonial emergency notes ever produced. By 1915, the naval blockade had completely cut German East Africa off from Europe, making re-supply of printed currency from Germany impossible. The colonial administration under Governor Heinrich Schnee authorized locally produced substitutes — some series printed on whatever paper could be sourced, including in at least one documented case animal skin and salvaged materials.
P#25A belongs to the paper issues, but the supply chain for even basic printing stock was precarious throughout the 1915–1917 window. Notes from this period were circulated under genuine wartime scarcity, not as collector pieces, which makes survivors in any condition genuinely uncommon.