Catalog
10 Pfennig Bezirkssparkasse
| Issuer | Bezirkssparkasse Mellrichstadt |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Oval-shaped notgeld printed in red on cream paper. A central vertical vignette enclosed within an ornate lace-like guilloche border contains a crowned allegorical figure or mask motif with a star above, set against fine engine-turned underprint work. The denomination numeral "10" and the word "Pfennig" in stylized lettering appear in the lower half of the vignette, with the issuer legend arranged in a curved arc around the outer border. |
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| Obverse lettering | FÜR MICH ZAHLT DIE BEZIRKSSPARKASSE MELLRICHSTADT 10 Pfennig |
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| Comments |
Bezirkssparkasse Mellrichstadt was a district savings bank in Lower Franconia, Bavaria — a tier of institution that proliferated across Germany during the hyperinflationary chaos of 1921–1923, issuing small-denomination emergency notes (Notgeld) to compensate for the chronic shortage of official coinage. The 10 Pfennig denomination places this firmly in the first wave of that crisis, when even the smallest transactions required local improvisation.
District-level Sparkassen had no mandate to issue currency under normal circumstances. The legal ambiguity of Notgeld allowed them to do so anyway.