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10 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadt Torgau (City of Torgau) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Light blue notgeld on paper with a decorative scrollwork border and zigzag serrated edge. A ornate ribbon cartouche at top carries the issuer name, flanking a central black circular vignette with the bold red numeral '10' in relief. The denomination 'ZEHN PFENNIG' is repeated in black gothic lettering to each side, split across two lines by the words 'NOT-' and 'GELD·'. A validity clause in italic script occupies the lower centre, with the issuance date and two manuscript signatures of the Magistrat at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blue and red notgeld reverse with a wave-pattern guilloche filling the lateral fields, each corner anchored by a red circular underprint bearing the blue numeral '10'. The central vignette, set within a black oval medallion, displays a full-length figure of a medieval knight in plate armour holding a lance and shield, flanked by the year numerals '15' and '42' in red. A blue annular band encircling the medallion carries an inscription referencing the historical event of 1542. |
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| Comments |
Torgau issued this note in 1921 as part of Germany's broader Kleingeldersatz crisis — postwar coin shortages had made small-denomination metal currency effectively unavailable in daily commerce, forcing hundreds of German municipalities to print their own emergency paper. The city had been printing Notgeld since at least 1919, and by 1921 the inflationary pressure was pushing more towns to extend or reissue their series rather than wait for central relief.
Torgau sits on the Elbe in Saxony, historically a garrison and fortress town. Municipal Notgeld from smaller Saxon cities in this period was often printed by local jobbing presses, which accounts for the variable print quality seen across surviving examples of this series.