Catalog
20 Mark Herzogliche Sparkasse
| Issuer | Herzoglich Braunschweigische Sparkasse (Ducal Brunswick Savings Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Size | 159 × 102 mm |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed Kriegsnotgeld on light cream cardstock, with a fine crosshatch guilloche border underprinted in red covering the full face. The issuer's name "Herzoglich Braunschweigische Sparkasse" is set in large decorative Fraktur type across the upper portion, below a bearer clause reading "Diese Schuldverschreibung ist auf den Inhaber ausgestellt"; the denomination "zwanzig Mark" appears in bold Fraktur within a central framed panel, flanked by the series designation "Serie IV lit. F" at left and the serial number at right. The place and date "Braunschweig, am 1. Novbr. 1918" are printed in blue below, accompanied by two manuscript signatures, an official circular ink stamp, and a diagonal blue overprint reading "Unverzinsliches Kriegsnotgeld". |
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| Obverse lettering | Diese Schuldverschreibung ist auf den Inhaber ausgestellt Herzoglich Braunschweigische Sparkasse Serie IV lit. F Spareinlage über zwanzig Mark ausgestellt von der Herzogl. Sparkasse Braunschweig Braunschweig, am 1. Novbr. 1918 Der Sparpfleger: Eingelöst mit Zinsen auf Unverzinsliches Kriegsnotgeld |
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| Comments |
The Herzoglich Braunschweigische Sparkasse — a savings institution rather than a commercial or state bank — entered emergency currency issue late in the First World War when chronic coin shortages and the collapse of normal monetary channels forced institutions well outside the traditional note-issuing establishment to fill the gap. This note is Notgeld in the fullest sense: a local stopgap, not a formal banking instrument.
The duchy itself had ceased to exist as a sovereign entity in 1918, absorbed into the new Free State of Brunswick following the November Revolution. A savings bank issuing 20-Mark notes under a ducal title while that duke was being deposed gives this piece an inadvertently commemorative quality that was certainly unintentional.