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| Issuer | Magistrat der Stadt Ballenstedt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Tan-toned notgeld note with the ornate heraldic arms of Ballenstedt at centre, comprising a chequered shield supported by foliate scrollwork and surmounted by a double-barred cross, printed in dark brown and ochre. The date of issue, Ballenstedt im Harz, den 22. März 1921, appears to the lower right alongside the manuscript signature of the Magistrat, with a red serial number printed to the lower left. Poetic verse inscriptions in Gothic lettering flank the vignette on both sides, and a validity notice reading Die Gültigkeit erlischt 3 Monate nach öffentl. Bekanntmachung is set to the lower left. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Wmk: Ovalmuster-oval pattern |
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| Comments |
Ballenstedt is a small town in the Harz foothills, and its magistrate issued this 3 Mark note during the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany in the early 1920s — a period when hundreds of municipalities printed their own emergency currency simply because Reichsbank coin and low-denomination notes could not keep pace with demand. Louis Koch of Halberstadt was a regional commercial printer who handled Notgeld commissions for several Harz-area municipalities, not a specialist security printer, which makes the inclusion of a watermark here more deliberate than it might first appear.