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10 Goldmarks
| Issuer | Stadtsparkasse Bielefeld |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | Gra#112a |
| Obverse description | Printed in dark ink on orange-yellow velvet fabric, this notgeld note carries a central satirical vignette of two caricatured figures — representing France and Germany — in a heated confrontation, set against a field of political slogans referencing war debts and the French occupation of the Ruhr. The denomination "ZEHN GOLDMARK" is inscribed in bold letterpress across the upper centre, with the issuing authority "STADTSPARKASSE BIELEFELD" in large capitals below the vignette. The date "15 DEZEMBER 1923" and a printed signature of the Stadtrat appear at lower right, with extensive marginal text running along all four borders. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents the plain, unprinted orange-yellow velvet fabric surface with no text, vignettes, or ornamentation of any kind, revealing the woven textile substrate characteristic of Bielefeld's celebrated cloth notgeld issues. |
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| Comments |
Bielefeld's municipal savings bank issued a series of emergency money printed on unconventional materials during the 1923 hyperinflation — silk, linen, and velvet among them. These were not novelties for collectors but functional notgeld, accepted locally when paper currency lost value faster than it could be printed. The velvet examples are the most fragile of the series and frequently show fiber separation along fold lines, which is a known preservation problem specific to this material rather than a sign of heavy use.
Gundlach, a Bielefeld printer, handled the full series locally. The choice of textile substrates was partly practical — paper supply was itself under strain in 1923.