Catalog
1 Skender
| Issuer | Municipality of Korçë (Albanian notgeld) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Value | 1 Skender |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black and red over a green guilloche underprint, the face bears a red intaglio portrait vignette at left of Gjergj Kastrioti (Skanderbeg) in right-facing profile, helmeted with a crested visor, his name inscribed vertically along the left border. The denomination numeral "1" appears within a circular frame at right, flanked by the issuer's legend across the upper margin and the payability clause below. Two manuscript signatures of the Kryekatundari (Mayor) and Kasieri (Cashier) appear in the lower portion, accompanied by a handwritten serial number. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | KATUNDARI' E KORÇÈS SKËNDER NJË 1 GJERGJ KASTRIOTI Kryekatundari Kasieri Në të ç'aqur paguhet |
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| Comments |
Korçë's 1921 municipal notgeld is one of the more obscure local emergency issues from the Balkans. Following the withdrawal of French occupation forces — who had administered the region since 1916 under the short-lived "Albanian Republic of Korçë" — the town's economy was left with a severe small-change shortage that the fledgling Albanian state was not yet equipped to address. Local authorities plugged the gap themselves.
The Skender denomination is named after Skanderbeg, the 15th-century Albanian national hero. A handful of Albanian municipalities issued similar scrip in this period; Korçë's issues are among the rarest, with very few examples documented in major collections.