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20 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadtkasse Lübeck (City Treasury of Lübeck) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Printer | Gebrüder Borchers G.m.b.H., Lübeck, Germany |
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| Obverse description | Orange-tinted notgeld with a bold, stylized red numeral '20' as the central vignette, surrounded by radiating sun-ray lines printed in red. The validity inscription arches across the top in a decorative hand-lettered style, with the issuing authority 'Stadtkasse Lübeck' and date of issue 'Lübeck, 1. April 1921' in black letterpress at the foot. A facsimile signature appears at lower right, and the designer's initials 'A.M.' are visible at lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GÜLTIG BIS 31. DEZEMBER 1921 LÜBECK, 1. APRIL 1921 STADTKASSE LÜBECK |
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| Comments |
Lübeck was one of hundreds of German municipalities that resorted to locally printed Kleingeldersatz — small-change substitutes — during the early 1920s, when coin metal was hoarded and official fractional currency simply couldn't keep pace with demand. The Stadtkasse issued these notes under emergency provisions that gave city treasuries direct authority to print, a stopgap that produced wildly varying quality across Germany. Lübeck's version, designed by Alfred Mahlau and printed by Gebrüder Borchers just down the street, is among the more artistically coherent local issues of the period.
Mahlau was a legitimate figure — later professor at the Lübeck School of Applied Arts — which accounts for the design discipline unusual in Notgeld of this denomination.