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20 Pfennig Hafenbetriebs-Verein
| Issuer | Hafenbetriebs-Verein in Hamburg e.V. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919-1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Pfennigs (20 Pfennige) (0.20) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Light green guilloche underprint covers the entire face, with large numeral '20' watermark-style vignettes at left and right edges. The denomination 'Gutschein über 20 Pfennig' is printed in bold Fraktur script at the top in brown-red ink, above a serial number in red. A central text panel in Fraktur script states the redemption guarantee by the Hafenbetriebs-Verein in Hamburg e.V., Wolfgangsweg 5, with the place and date 'Hamburg, April 1920' at lower left and the issuer name at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Hafenbetriebs-Verein was a Hamburg port operators' association, and this note is a product of the notgeld wave that followed Germany's post-war coin shortage. Small-denomination metal currency had effectively vanished from circulation by 1919 — hoarded, melted, or simply inadequate to the volume of petty transactions in a working port district. Associations, municipalities, and private employers across Germany issued their own paper stopgaps, often with only nominal official oversight.
The watermark security feature is worth noting — most notgeld of this period skipped it entirely, making this issue slightly more considered than the average emergency scrip.