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20 Mark

Issuer Stadt Freiberg (City of Freiberg, Saxony)
Year 1918
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Designer(s) Rieß
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Obverse description The central text panel, set against a pink and purple guilloche underprint, carries the denomination legend in Gothic Fraktur script above the bold numeral-letter monogram '20M', flanked on each lateral panel by full-length vignettes of two traditional Saxon mining figures — a miner to the left and a musician to the right — each standing beside a heraldic shield bearing the arms of Freiberg. The issuing authority text, date of 15 November 1918, and two official seals of the Stadtrat and Stadhauptkasse appear in the lower central area, accompanied by two manuscript signatures. A decorative border of interlocking geometric ornament frames the entire composition, with the artist's name 'Rieß' noted at lower right.
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Protection description Dunkle Kreuze (dark crosses pattern)
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Comments

Freiberg's municipal administration issued this note during the Notgeld wave of late 1918, when the collapse of wartime supply chains and a severe coin shortage forced German cities to print their own emergency currency. Freiberg had particular reason to act quickly — as a significant Saxon mining town, its local economy ran on small transactions that federal monetary disruption hit hard.

Krey & Sommerlad in Niedersedlitz handled a substantial volume of Saxon municipal Notgeld during this period. The watermarked paper on a 20 Mark denomination is notable; most Notgeld at this value was printed on plain stock, and the added security feature suggests Freiberg anticipated longer circulation than many contemporaries.

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