Catalog
1 Rupie
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 104 × 63 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in letterpress, enclosed by a simple outer border consistent with the obverse frame. Text blocks in German carry administrative and redemption conditions, with a serial number and a single letter control character appearing in both the upper left and lower right corners. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | P#15a(1) - light red-brown paper series J diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending P#15a(2) - light red-brown paper series J diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending, except for the fourth one from below, which is ascending P#15b(1) - yellow-brown paper series J (left and right at same height on back) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending P#15b(2) - yellow-brown paper series K (left and right at same height on back) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending, except for the fourth one from below, which is ascending P#15b(3) - yellow-brown paper series K (left and right at same height on back) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending P#15b(4) - yellow-brown paper series J (left and right at same height on back) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending, except for the fourth one from below, which is ascending P#15c(1) - yellow-brown paper series K (left high, right below) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending P#15c(2) - yellow-brown paper series K (left high, right below) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending, except for the fourth one from below, which is ascending P#15d(1) - yellow-brown paper series K (left high, center below) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending P#15d(2) - yellow-brown paper series K (left high, center below) diagonals in the spheres in right margin descending, except for the fourth one from below, which is ascending |
| Comments |
Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank's 1915 emergency currency was born from a naval blockade. With supply lines to Germany severed after August 1914, the colonial administration in German East Africa could no longer import printed notes from Europe. The 1 Rupie notes that followed were produced locally under improvised conditions — a fact visible in the crude typography and inconsistent ink coverage that specialists use to distinguish genuine wartime issues from later imitations.
Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's campaign to tie down Allied forces across East Africa until the armistice meant these notes circulated far longer than any colonial emergency currency had business doing — some remained nominally in use into 1918.