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20 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadtkreis Forst (Lausitz), Magistrat |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress on tan paper with a serrated border. The heading "Stadtkreis Forst (Lausitz)" appears in Gothic script across the top, above a horizontal vignette of an industrial townscape with factory buildings and a church tower. To the lower left, the municipal coat of arms shows a bird on a hatched shield; denomination panels reading "20 Pfennig" appear at lower left and right in octagonal frames. A central text block gives the redemption conditions, signed by the Magistrat and dated 1. Juni 1920. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 20 Nr. |
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| Comments |
Forst (Lausitz) was a major center of the German wool and textile industry, and its municipal Notgeld was issued during the acute small-change shortage that followed the First World War — a period when coins were hoarded and federal minting capacity couldn't keep pace with demand. Thousands of German municipalities turned to printed scrip as a stopgap, giving local magistrates an authority over currency they would never otherwise have held.
The 1920 dating places this firmly in the second wave of German Notgeld, by which point many issues had shifted from purely functional instruments into collectibles deliberately designed for the philatelic market. Whether Forst's issue was utilitarian or collector-oriented affects its scarcity in genuinely circulated grades considerably.