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5 Mark Stadtsparkasse
| Issuer | Stadtsparkasse Bielefeld |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | 1 February 1919 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is centred on a large circular vignette with a dark background, showing a smiling infant seated cross-legged and clutching a large cabbage head, a whimsical Jugendstil-influenced motif. The word "Trotz" appears beneath the vignette within the circle, flanked by curved inscriptions "Hunger" and "Kummer" at left and right respectively. Four black medallions at the corners each bear the Gothic denomination legend "Fünf M" in white script, and an intricate interlaced Celtic-style border in green and yellow frames the entire composition, with vertical marginal text on both sides carrying redemption and issuer information. |
| Reverse lettering | Hunger Kummer Trotz Fünf M Einlösung erfolgt durch alle öffentlichen Kassen in Bielefeld durch Grundschuld und Haus Bielefeld, Stadtkreis und Grundschuld und Haus |
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| Comments |
Bielefeld's Stadtsparkasse was among hundreds of German municipal savings institutions that resorted to Notgeld during 1918 as the Reichsbank's coin and small-denomination note supply collapsed under wartime strain. This particular issue was printed locally by E. Gundlach, a Bielefeld commercial printer with no particular banknote pedigree — which is exactly the point. Municipal necessity, not central authority, drove these printings, and quality control was whatever the local printer could manage.
Bielefeld would later become famous in Notgeld circles for its 1921–22 linen and leather issues, which drew international collector attention. The 1918 paper series is the unglamorous precursor.