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5 Pfennig
| Issuer | Magistrat Ballenstedt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Value | 5 Pfennigs (5 Pfennige) (0.05) |
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| Obverse description | Notgeld voucher (Gutschein) printed in black Gothic script on plain paper, with the large numeral '5' set within a circular cartouche at centre. Decorative fir-branch corner ornaments frame the note, while the text block to the left states the validity clause of three months after public announcement. The issuing authority 'MAGISTRAT' appears at right with a manuscript signature below, and the town name 'Ballenstedt im Ost-Harz' is rendered in large blackletter type across the lower portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gutschein über 5 Pfg. Die Gültigkeit erlischt 3 Monate nach öffentlicher Bekanntmachung. Ballenstedt i/H. den 28. Sept. 1920 Magistrat Ballenstedt im Ost-Harz |
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| Comments |
Ballenstedt is a small town in the Harz region of Saxony-Anhalt, and its municipal authority — the Magistrat — issued this 5 Pfennig note as part of the broader Notgeld wave that swept German local governments between 1916 and 1922. The chronic shortage of small coins, driven by metal requisitioning during the First World War and postwar hoarding, forced thousands of municipalities to print their own emergency fractional currency. Ballenstedt was one of hundreds doing exactly this in 1920.
Paper Notgeld at this denomination was produced in enormous quantities and rarely redeemed — which is precisely why so many survive in uncirculated condition today.