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5 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Ahlen (Westfalen), Magistrat |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 125 × 80 mm |
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in red on a pale guilloche ground, the reverse bears the denomination 'Fünf Mark' in large Fraktur script flanking the municipal coat of arms of Ahlen at centre — a shield surmounted by a crenellated tower with an eagle device — all set against a fine lozenge-pattern underprint. Numeral '5' vignettes appear in each corner within the scalloped border frame. A rectangular text cartouche in the lower half contains a patriotic quotation attributed to Friedrich der Große, 1757. |
| Reverse lettering | Fünf Mark Es wird das Jahr stark u. schwach hergehn – Aber man muß die Ohren steif halten u. Jeder, der Ehre und Liebe für das Vaterland hat, muß alles daran setzen. Friedrich der Große - 1757 - |
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| Comments |
Ahlen's 1918 Notgeld issue belongs to the first serious wave of municipal emergency currency in Germany, triggered by the wartime disappearance of metal coinage from circulation. The Magistrat — the town's governing council — was acting under broadly permissive Reich policy that allowed local authorities to fill the gap, though without formal Reichsbank sanction. Ahlen was a mid-sized Westphalian coal-mining town at this point, and the note reflects purely local fiscal improvisation rather than any coordinated regional scheme.
Five-mark denominations are less common in municipal Notgeld than the one- and two-mark pieces, as most issuers were cautious about pushing into higher values.