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| Issuer | Stadtsparkasse Bielefeld (Stadt-Sparkasse Bielefeld) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Yes |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Multicolour reverse on a red checkerboard underprint, dominated in the left half by a bold woodcut-style vignette of an eagle astride a shield inscribed 'ENDE' with slogans worked into the design body referencing the Reichs- und Papiermark and German unity. The right half carries the issuer name 'Stadt-Sparkasse Bielefeld' and the denomination '1 Dollar = 4.20 Goldmark' rendered in ornate Gothic script over a vivid orange, red, and blue guilloche panel. A repeating border legend 'WERTBESTÄNDIG = 4,20 GOLDMARK' runs along all four margins, and the bottom carries the bilingual savings motto 'DEUTSCHER HILF DIR SELBST DANN HILFT DIR GOTT · ARBEITE UND SPARE'. |
| Reverse lettering | WERTBESTÄNDIG = 4,20 GOLDMARK STADT-SPARKASSE BIELEFELD 1 DOLLAR = 4.20 GOLDMARK DER REICHS- U. PAPIER-MARK 1 BIELEFELDER GOLDMARK AM 6.11.23 = 100 MILLIARDEN PAPIERMARK GENEHMIGT DR. LUTHER, REICHSMINISTER DER FINANZEN DEUTSCHER HILF DIR SELBST DANN HILFT DIR GOTT · ARBEITE UND SPARE ZWERGWOHLSTAND DRUCK' NICHT ZU VIEL! BLEIBE STABIL! STREB' NACH EINIGKEIT. OCH DEUTSCHE EINIGKEIT. |
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| Comments |
Bielefeld's 4.20 Goldmark note is among the more self-consciously pragmatic products of the German Notgeld stabilization period. The denomination itself — 4.20 Goldmark, equating to one U.S. dollar at the fixed rate then used as a stable reference — reflects the collapse of any meaningful domestic unit of account by late 1923. Issuers across Germany were pegging emergency scrip to foreign currency or gold values simply to give the paper a number people could trust for the next few hours.
E. Gundlach in Bielefeld was a prolific local printer during this period, producing Notgeld for multiple municipal and commercial issuers in Westphalia.