Catalog
1 Rupie
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1917 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Uniface emergency issue (Interims-Banknote) printed in black letterpress on plain paper. The German Imperial eagle vignette occupies the upper left corner, set within a guilloche border of repeating ornamental crosses framing the central text block, which carries the issuing bank name, promise-to-pay clause, denomination in both words and numerals, and the place and date of issue (Daressalam/Tabora, 1. November 1915). Two manuscript signatures appear below the authorization line reading "Kraft besonderer Ermächtigung." |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a large printed X overprint applied to invalidate the original series; the original serial numbers are crossed out and two new handwritten serial numbers have been added as part of a subsequent revalidation or reissue process. |
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| Comments |
The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank's wartime rupie issues are among the most improvised currency solutions of the First World War. With the British naval blockade cutting off any possibility of receiving printed notes from Germany, the colonial administration in German East Africa resorted to printing currency locally — on whatever materials were available, including bush paper made partly from native plant fibers.
Governor Heinrich Schnee and General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck kept the colony fighting until November 1918, two weeks after the Armistice in Europe. The currency had to survive alongside them. P#25 belongs to that desperate production run, and the material irregularities found across surviving examples are a direct consequence of wartime manufacture under siege conditions rather than deterioration in storage.