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25 Pfennigs
| Issuer | Gemeinde Bilsen, Amtsbezirk Hemdingen (Municipality of Bilsen, Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 100 × 70 mm |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black and yellow on white paper, the obverse is framed by an ornate border of interlocking curvilinear pen-flourish scrollwork in black. A central yellow cartouche in scroll-cut form bears the issuer's name and district in bold letterpress. The denomination numeral '25' appears at the top centre flanked by 'Pf' abbreviations, with the validity clause, two manuscript signatures, and a red serial number in the lower portion; the printer's imprint 'KONRAD HANF HAMBURG 8' appears at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black and yellow and divided into three horizontal bands: a yellow upper panel bearing a two-line verse in German Kurrent script, a central white vignette with a line-drawn scene of two children flying a kite in a field, and a yellow lower panel carrying a second verse line in matching script. Denomination medallions displaying '25' within ornamental yellow cartouches flank the central vignette on either side, while bold black corner squares frame the overall composition. |
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| Comments |
Bilsen was a rural commune of a few hundred souls in the Kreis Pinneberg, and its decision to issue notgeld in 1921 places it among thousands of German municipalities that stepped into the currency vacuum left by chronic small-change shortages in the postwar years. By 1921 the emergency money phenomenon had long since crossed from practical necessity into something more deliberate — many municipalities were printing for collectors as much as for commerce, and Konrad Hanf in Hamburg was one of the smaller regional printers serving that trade.
Whether this issue actually circulated in Bilsen or went straight into dealer packets is the more pertinent question for any serious collector.