1 Rupie

Deutsch-Ostafrika's 1916 emergency issues are among the most unusual paper money produced during the First World War. Cut off from Germany by the British naval blockade, the colonial administration under Governor Heinrich Schnee — and effectively under the military command of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck — could not import printed currency. These notes were produced locally in Dar es Salaam using whatever materials were available, including recycled paper stocks.

The series circulated under extraordinary conditions: the colony was never fully conquered, and Lettow-Vorbeck's forces remained in the field until after the Armistice. Notes from this issue were still technically in use among a retreating army that had not yet surrendered.