5 Mark

Cochem's district committee issued this note in 1918 as local purchasing power collapsed under wartime shortages — one of thousands of Notgeld emissions flooding Germany as the central monetary system buckled. The Rhineland districts were particularly active issuers, partly because the region's relative isolation from major banking infrastructure made small-denomination emergency notes a practical necessity rather than a political gesture.

The embossed seal was the issuer's primary authentication method, replacing printed security features that smaller municipal authorities couldn't access. It's the detail that distinguishes genuine district-issued pieces from the commemorative Notgeld produced speculatively after the war for collector markets.