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200 Rupien
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain light-green tinted paper with a simple typeset design enclosed within a double-rule border; the heading reads 'Interims-Banknote.' with the denomination numeral '200' at each corner, below which the issuing bank's name and a text block in German script state the note's payability at the bank's cashiers in the German East African Protectorate. The date 'Tabora, 15. April 1915.' and two manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, one under 'Eingetragen durch:' and one under 'In Vollmacht:' for the Dar es Salaam branch. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Interims-Banknote. No 10313 Die Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank zahlt bei ihren Kassen im Deutsch-Ostafrikanischen Schutzgebiet dem Einlieferer dieser Banknote ohne Legitimationsprüfung Zweihundert Rupien. Tabora, 15. April 1915. Eingetragen durch: Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank Zweigniederlassung Daressalam. In Vollmacht: |
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| Comments |
The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank's 1915 emergency issues were born from a single logistical reality: the British naval blockade made importing printed currency from Germany impossible. The 200 Rupien — the highest denomination in the series — was produced locally in Dar es Salaam under wartime conditions, with materials and printing quality reflecting exactly those constraints. Governor Heinrich Schnee and Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's administration needed functioning money to pay troops and requisition supplies from a local population that had every reason to distrust improvised paper.
The series is notorious for the coarseness of its production. Paper stocks varied between printings, and the hand-stamped signatures make no two notes quite identical.