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| Issuer | Bielschowitz (Silesia), Municipality of |
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| Year | 1914 |
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| Size | 115 × 82 mm |
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| Obverse description | Printed on green paper in letterpress, this Notgeld Gutschein carries a serial number in a ruled box at upper left, with the title 'Gutschein' in large blackletter script centred at top, followed by the denomination '5 Mark.' in a smaller blackletter legend. The body text in Fraktur script states the payment obligation of the Gemeindekasse zu Bielschowitz, dated 'den 12. August 1914,' with two manuscript signatures flanking a circular municipality stamp bearing crossed mining tools and the legend 'GEMEINDE BIELSCHOWITZ * KR. ZABRZE.' A footnote in Fraktur at the lower margin notes the redemption deadline. |
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| Obverse lettering | № Gutschein. 5 Mark. Fünf Mark zahlt die Gemeindekasse zu Bielschowitz ohne Legitimationsprüfung dem Einlieferer dieses Scheines. Bielschowitz, den 12. August 1914 Der Gemeindevorstand: Die Gemeindekasse: Anmerk.: Die Einlösung hat bis zum 31. Dezember d. Js. zu erfolgen. |
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| Comments |
Bielschowitz — now Bielszowice, absorbed into Ruda Śląska in Upper Silesia — issued this note as an emergency measure in the weeks following the outbreak of war in August 1914, when a sudden contraction of coin circulation hit industrial towns across Germany simultaneously. The municipal authority, like dozens of others in the region, acted unilaterally before any central directive existed for such issues.
The DeNG reference range 25.4–25.9 indicates at least six distinct varieties within this single denomination, likely differing in date, signature combination, or serial format — a density of variants unusual even by the prolific standards of 1914 Silesian Notgeld.