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20 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadtmagistrat Nördlingen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | The note is divided into three vertical panels printed in black and red. The left panel carries the denomination '20 Pfennig' in bold Gothic script above the issuer name 'Nördlingen' and the date '2. Oktober 1918', all set against a red text underprint repeating the denomination. The central panel bears a letterpress vignette of a medieval tower and fortified wall with surrounding foliage. The right panel mirrors the left in layout, stating validity to '31. Dezember 1919' above the denomination and the issuing authority, with a facsimile signature of the Bürgermeister below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black and red and centers on the crowned municipal eagle of Nördlingen, displayed with spread wings and bearing a shield with horizontal red and white stripes on its breast, its talons rendered in red. The denomination '20 Pfennig' appears in large bold Gothic numerals to either side of the eagle vignette. A repetitive red text underprint of the denomination and city name fills the ornamental shield-shaped panels flanking the central motif, and a serial number appears in a plain cartouche at the foot of the design. |
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| Comments |
Nördlingen's municipal administration issued this 20 Pfennig Notgeld in 1918 as the Imperial supply chain collapsed and small-denomination coins disappeared from circulation almost entirely — hoarded, melted, or simply not minted in sufficient quantity to meet wartime demand. Hundreds of German municipalities faced the same problem simultaneously, and local magistrates were legally permitted to fill the gap with their own emergency paper.
Nördlingen sits inside one of Europe's best-preserved meteorite craters, though that geographic curiosity had no bearing on what was ultimately a bureaucratic response to a coin shortage that afflicted the whole Reich in its final year.