Catalog
25 Pfennig
| Issuer | Kreissparkasse Hofgeismar |
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| Year | |
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| Printer | Gebrüder Gotthelft, Cassel, Germany |
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| Obverse description | Multicolour letterpress Notgeld note printed in red, black, and green on an orange ground, with large bold Gothic numerals '25' in the lower left and right corners flanking a central oval vignette. The vignette contains a stylised depiction of a church or city gate with green-capped towers, beneath which stands a haloed saint in red robes holding a book, the whole surrounded by decorative foliate scrollwork. A text panel at lower left contains the redemption legend in German script, while a serial-number panel at lower right reads 'Konto B. Nummer:' with a printed series number; the issuing authority 'Kreis Hofgeismar' appears in large red Gothic lettering across the top, and the printer's imprint 'Gebr. Gotthelft, Cassel' is present at the lower left margin. |
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| Reverse description | Uncoloured black letterpress vignette on a plain buff paper ground within a single-rule border, reproducing an old topographic view of the town of Helmershausen with the ruined Krockenburg castle prominently set on the hill above the settlement. The townscape below shows church spires, half-timbered rooflines, and medieval towers, with a foreground road along which travellers on horseback are rendered in fine line engraving. Place-name inscriptions in period script identify the town and the castle ruin. |
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| Comments |
Hofgeismar is a small town in northern Hesse, and its Kreissparkasse — a district savings bank — was among the hundreds of German local institutions that issued Kleingeldersatz notes during the acute coin shortages of 1917–1921. These municipal and savings bank issues were stopgap instruments, never intended for wide circulation beyond the issuing district. Gebrüder Gotthelft of Kassel handled a substantial volume of regional Notgeld printing during this period, supplying everything from county councils to individual businesses across Hesse-Nassau.
The spelling "Cassel" on the printer's imprint reflects the pre-1926 orthography, before the city officially adopted "Kassel."