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25 Pfennig Handelskammer
| Issuer | Handelskammer zu Göttingen (Chamber of Commerce) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in dark brown, red, and gold tones on a cream ground with a fine foliate underprint. The central vignette carries the large red numeral '25' set within an ornate rococo cartouche, with the denomination 'Pfennig' printed in red below and the word 'über' above. Dark side panels frame the composition: the left panel bears a wheat sheaf surmounted by a winged Pickelhaube helmet on a cogwheel, the right panel a sword entwined with laurel. The issuer legend and validity clause are rendered in Gothic (Fraktur) script, and three manuscript signatures appear along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is a richly illustrated composition centred on a full-length vignette of a haloed armoured knight — likely St. George — holding a lance, rendered in a medieval woodcut style against a dark starry ground. Three heraldic shields are arranged below: the arms of Göttingen (black eagle on white) flanked by the arms of Göttingen town to the left and Osterode to the right, with the place names inscribed beneath each shield. Flanking the entire design are two oak-branch sprays in green and gold. The issuer name 'Handelskammer' and 'Göttingen' appear in large Gothic lettering upper left and upper right respectively, with the serial number, date, denomination, and printer's imprint completing the layout. |
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| Comments |
Wartime Kleingeldersatz — small-change substitutes issued by local chambers of commerce, municipalities, and private firms — flooded Germany from 1916 onward as metal coinage disappeared into the war economy. The Göttingen Chamber of Commerce was one of hundreds of regional bodies authorized to plug the gap, and this 25 Pfennig note is a product of that administrative scramble rather than any central monetary planning.
J. Adolf Schwarz in Lindenberg im Allgäu was a specialist printer for this genre, producing Notgeld for numerous issuers across southern and central Germany during the same period. Schiesle's design credit is unusually specific for a note of this type — most Notgeld from 1917 went uncredited.