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10 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Mainz (City of Mainz) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Plain ochre-yellow ground with a repetitive guilloche underprint composed of interlocking circular rosette motifs and the word 'STADT' woven into the pattern. A decorative Gothic-style border frames the note, with the City of Mainz circular seal embossed at upper left. The denomination 'Zehn Mark' is set in bold Gothic blackletter script at centre, above the issuance date 'Mainz, 16. Oktober 1918', serial number, and the manuscript signature of the Oberbürgermeister. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Signature(s) | L. Göttelmann |
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| Comments |
Stadt Mainz issued this 10 Mark note in 1918 as Notgeld — emergency municipal currency printed to address the acute coin shortage that gripped German cities as the war economy consumed metal. Cities, towns, and even individual businesses were legally permitted to issue their own paper in this period, which is why surviving examples vary so wildly in printing quality and design ambition.
The embossed seal was the issuing authority's primary anti-counterfeiting measure, crude by banking standards but adequate for a note expected to circulate only locally and briefly. Göttelmann's signature as city official gave it whatever institutional weight it carried.