Catalog
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| Issuer | Stadt Witten (City of Witten) |
|---|---|
| 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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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Large numeral '5' dominates the central field, enclosed within a decorative inner circle formed by a pearl-and-dash border with scrolled ornamental flourishes at the cardinal points. The legend 'NOTGELD 1920' arcs along the upper periphery and 'PFENNIG' arcs along the lower periphery, both separated from the inner device by a pearled border. The entire design is contained within an outer pearled rim. |
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| Additional information |
Witten's 1920 aluminum Kleingeld was issued during the acute coin shortage that followed Germany's postwar metal requisitions, when the central government had stripped copper and nickel reserves for the war effort and the Reichsbank could not meet demand for low-denomination circulating pieces. Hundreds of German municipalities issued their own emergency coinage — Notgeld — during this window, and Witten was among them. Aluminum was chosen precisely because it held no strategic or intrinsic value, making hoarding pointless.
The Funck catalog remains the primary reference for this municipal aluminum series.