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| Issuer | Staatskasse Arolsen (Land Waldeck) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Typeset notgeld note printed in black on a red guilloche underprint within a double-rule border with ornamental corner diamonds. The upper legend in bold Gothic type reads 'Wertbeständiges Notgeld des Landes Waldeck.' followed by the serial letter and number at upper left, and an authorization text at upper right referencing approval by the Reichsminister der Finanzen and security through deposit of Reichsgoldanleihe bonds. The central denomination line in large bold type states 'Wert 1/14 Dollar Reichsgoldanleihe = 30 Goldpfennige', below which a block of smaller Gothic text sets out the redemption conditions. The issue place and date 'Arolsen, den 1. November 1923' appear above two manuscript signatures in ink, captioned 'Der Landesdirektor:' at left and 'Ausgefertigt:' at right. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Official seal |
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| Comments |
Waldeck was one of Germany's smallest sovereign states — a relic principality that survived into the Weimar Republic largely through inertia, finally absorbed by Prussia in 1929. Its Staatskasse in Arolsen issued this Goldpfennig-denominated notgeld in 1923 as the hyperinflation crisis made Reichsmark-denominated paper functionally worthless. The Goldpfennig denomination was an attempt to anchor value to a gold standard equivalent at a moment when no one trusted nominal currency figures.
Paul Pusch in Bad Wildungen was a local commercial printer, not a security specialist. The official seal is the only anti-counterfeiting measure — which tells you something about the desperate improvisation driving small-state emergency issues at this period.