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25 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Köln (City of Cologne) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| In circulation to | 1921 |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress notgeld on buff paper with an ornate guilloche border and denomination numerals «25» in each corner medallion. At centre-right, a vignette of a medieval armoured figure — likely the Cologne city patron — set within an arched niche and holding a sword and shield bearing the Cologne coat of arms. The large bold denomination «25 PFENNIG» occupies the centre-left, above a serial number panel in dark ink, with a red oval city stamp to the lower left and a facsimile signature of the Oberbürgermeister below the explanatory text. The year «1920» appears vertically on both lateral borders. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in warm ochre-brown on buff paper, the reverse centres on a large circular vignette containing a finely detailed engraving of the Cologne Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive Gothic tower and Renaissance loggia rendered in precise line work against a lightly clouded sky. Four corner medallions each bear the denomination numeral «25», set within guilloche rosette surrounds, while a dense micro-text underprint of repeating legends covers the entire field. |
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| Comments |
Cologne's 1920 Kleingeldersatz notes were printed by M. Dumont Schauberg, the city's own longstanding press and newspaper publisher — an unusual arrangement that kept production entirely local at a time when the Reichsdruckerei was overwhelmed by hyperinflationary demand for higher denominations. Notgeld at this fractional level was essentially municipally sanctioned token money, filling the vacuum left by hoarded metal coinage.
The Rhineland was under Allied occupation in 1920, which complicated currency administration in Cologne considerably and made the city's autonomous issuance more of a practical necessity than a bureaucratic choice.