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20 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtkasse Überlingen (City of Überlingen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Mark |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The left third of the note is occupied by a large woodcut-style vignette of the Überlingen civic coat of arms, rendered in black and grey with elaborate mantling and a helmeted crest above a quartered shield. To the upper right, the denomination word "Zwanzig" is set in bold Gothic (Fraktur) letterpress in orange-red against a dark crosshatched ground, with "Mark" similarly rendered at the lower right. The central panel contains a cursive text block in black Fraktur script on a white ground, stating the validity period, place of redemption, and date of issue, with the Bürgermeister's manuscript signature and an oval red official seal of the city at the right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The upper portion of the reverse carries a wide horizontal vignette in the manner of a woodcut print, depicting a dramatic medieval battle scene in which the citizens of Überlingen repel a Swedish assault, with armoured soldiers and townspeople shown in close combat with pikes and firearms against an architectural backdrop. Immediately below the vignette, a caption in Gothic script identifies the historical episode. The lower register is divided into three panels: the numeral "20" in large orange-red digits at the left, the central inscription "Kriegsnotgeld der Stadt Überlingen" in Fraktur lettering, and "Mark" in matching orange-red Gothic type at the right, with a printed serial number centred beneath. |
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| Comments |
Überlingen, a small lakeside town on the Bodensee, was an unlikely source of emergency currency, but the acute coin shortage of late 1918 forced hundreds of German municipalities into exactly this position. This note belongs to the first wave of serious Notgeld — not the decorative collector-bait of 1921–22, but functional emergency paper issued under genuine economic stress as the war collapsed around it.
W. Veit was a local Überlingen printer, not a specialist banknote firm, which makes the inclusion of a watermark security feature notable. Someone was paying attention.