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5 Rupien
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905 |
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| Currency | Decimalized Rupee (1904-1916) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | DIE DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKANISCHE BANK zahlt bei ihrer Kasse in Daressalam dem Einlieferer dieser Banknote ohne Legitimationsprüfung 5 FÜNF RUPIEN 5 Daressalam, den 15. Juni 1905 DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKANISCHE BANK WER BANKNOTEN NACHMACHT ODER VERFÄLSCHT ODER NACHGEMACHTE ODER VERFÄLSCHTE SICH VERSCHAFFT UND IN VERKEHR BRINGT WIRD MIT ZUCHTHAUS NICHT UNTER ZWEI JAHREN BESTRAFT. GIESECKE & DEVRIENT |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown and light blue, the reverse is entirely typographic and ornamental, with no pictorial vignette. A large symmetrical guilloche composition fills the field, centred on an oval cartouche bearing the two-line inscription "DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKANISCHE BANK" in bold serif lettering. The denomination "FÜNF RUPIEN" is rendered in diagonal lettering in the upper field, with "5 RUPIEN" repeated in the corner rosettes, and the whole design is enclosed within an elaborately scalloped lathe-work border. |
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| Comments |
The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank was established in 1905 specifically to provide a banking and currency infrastructure for German East Africa, and this 5 Rupien note is among the earliest issues it produced. The Rupie was pegged to the Indian Rupee at par, a pragmatic acknowledgment of the region's existing trade relationships with the Indian Ocean commercial world rather than any attempt to impose a purely German monetary framework.
Giesecke & Devrient had been printing security documents since 1852 and were the dominant supplier for German colonial currency. Pick 1 survivors in any condition are genuinely uncommon — the entire colonial series was disrupted by the outbreak of war in 1914, and much of the circulating stock in German East Africa was withdrawn or destroyed during the subsequent British campaign.