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20 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtmagistrat Kempten i. Allgäu |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Printer | Jos. Kösel, Kempten |
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| Obverse description | The obverse of this Kriegsnotgeld presents a central oval vignette with a fine wavy-line guilloche underprint in pale green, enclosed within an ornate rectangular border of interlocking scroll and foliate motifs rendered in dark ink. The denomination 'Zwanzig Mark' is set in a large, bold Blackletter typeface with green tint at centre, above a single line of smaller text stating the payment obligation of the Stadtkasse Kempten. A redemption notice printed in red below gives the withdrawal deadline, followed by the date 'Kempten, den 2. November 1918,' the issuing authority 'Stadtmagistrat,' and the countersignature of the acting Bürgermeister. A red serial number is printed at the lower centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Kriegsnotgeld der Stadt Kempten i. Allgäu Zwanzig Mark zahlt die Stadtkasse Kempten ohne Ausweis dem Einlieferer dieses Scheines. Dieser Schein wird spätestens zum 1 Februar 1919 zur Einziehung u. Einlösung aufgerufen. Kempten, den 2. November 1918. Stadtmagistrat rehtsd. Bürgermeister No 11571 |
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| Comments |
Kempten's municipal authority issued this 20 Mark note in 1918 under the emergency money provisions that proliferated across Germany as the imperial financial system buckled under wartime strain. Josef Kösel was a well-established Kempten printer — primarily known for Catholic religious and liturgical publishing — whose presses were redirected to produce local emergency currency when central bank notes grew scarce in smaller towns.
Stadtmagistrat issues at this denomination are less common than the smaller Pfennig and low-Mark Notgeld that flooded the market; 20 Mark represented a meaningful sum in 1918, and municipal issuers at that level faced greater scrutiny over backing guarantees.