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5 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Kaiserslautern |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Mark |
| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Notgeld gutschein printed in blue and cream on plain paper, with a bold blue striped border carrying the numeral '5' in each corner. The central cream panel carries the issuing authority's name in Gothic script at the top, followed by the denomination 'FÜNF MARK' in large bold letterpress type over a blue guilloche underprint of the numeral '5'. Below, three lines of smaller text set out the redemption conditions, with the serial number at lower left, issue date and 'DIE STADTVERWALTUNG' at lower right, and two manuscript signature lines for the Rechtsk. Bürgermeister and Stadt-Einnehmer respectively, accompanied by an embossed official seal. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue, the reverse is covered by a fine guilloche lattice underprint across the whole surface. At centre, a large cartouche with ornamental scroll corners and vertical line-engraved fill contains the bold numeral '5' in cream reserve, the whole forming a simple but effective security underprint typical of German municipal Notgeld of the period. |
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| Comments |
Kaiserslautern's municipal administration issued this note as a Kriegsnotgeld measure in 1918, when chronic metal shortages and war-driven coin hoarding left local commerce without adequate small-denomination instruments. Municipal authorities across the German Reich were forced into parallel issuing roles the Reichsbank had neither the capacity nor the interest to fill at the local level.
The embossed seal — the municipality's official stamp pressed directly into the paper — was the primary anti-counterfeiting measure the town council could realistically deploy. Rhine-Palatinate notgeld of this period is frequently found with hinge remnants from album collection; clean unhinged examples are less common than survival rates might suggest.