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5 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadt Cleve (City of Kleve) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed on orange paper in black letterpress, the obverse presents a typographically plain but structured design enclosed within a double-rule rectangular border. Vertical line patterns flank the large central numeral '5' on both sides, serving as a simple decorative underprint substitute. The denomination and issuing authority are stated in Fraktur script across the lower portion, with the date of issue rendered at the bottom. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse, also printed in black on orange paper within a double-rule border, carries the heraldic arms of the City of Cleve at centre: a shield bearing three clovers and a small escutcheon, surmounted by a crown and a swan crest with elaborate acanthus mantling to either side. Denomination numerals '5' appear in each corner, with 'Stadt' inscribed at the top and 'Cleve' at the bottom in bold Roman typeface. |
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| Comments |
Kleve's 5 Pfennig notgeld from 1920 belongs to the enormous wave of small-denomination emergency coinage substitutes issued by German municipalities when metal shortages and hoarding left everyday commerce essentially paralyzed. The city — historically spelled both Cleve and Kleve, the older French-inflected form retained on much of its official paperwork well into the Weimar period — was already economically strained before the hyperinflation spiral that would make these small notes obsolete within a few years.
The print date of 30 April 1945 is almost certainly a catalog or transcription anomaly. By that date, Kleve had been largely destroyed in the February 1945 Allied bombardment preceding Operation Veritable, and municipal printing operations had long ceased.