2 Mark

Cologne issued its own emergency currency — Notgeld — during the final years of World War One as coin shortages became acute and the Reichsbank struggled to supply smaller denominations to municipalities. This 2 Mark piece is signed by Konrad Adenauer, then serving as lord mayor of Cologne, a position he held from 1917 until the French occupation authorities removed him in 1926. His signature appears on a great many Cologne Notgeld issues from this period, which makes them modestly collectible beyond their face value as wartime scrip.

W. Peipers & Co. was a local Cologne printer, which was standard practice for Notgeld — municipalities typically contracted nearby firms rather than specialist security printers.