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5 Rupien
| Issuer | Kaiserliches Gouvernement von Deutsch-Ostafrika |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears the issuing authority designation 'Daressalam/Tabora' at left, with the authorization clause 'Kraft besonderer Ermächtigung' at lower left. The note is typeset in a plain letterpress style with a simple ruled border, reflecting wartime emergency issue conditions. The left signature is applied by hand. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed on green-tinted paper within a plain ruled rectangular border and carries bilingual text in German and Swahili attesting that the value of the banknote is fully deposited with the Imperial Government of German East Africa. A counterfeit warning clause in German is set at lower centre, and the printer's imprint of the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Zeitung G.m.b.H., Daressalam appears at the foot. The series letter and serial number are repeated in the upper left and lower right corners. |
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| Comments |
By 1915, the naval blockade had severed German East Africa from Europe entirely, cutting off any possibility of importing currency from metropolitan printers. The colonial government turned to the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Zeitung — a local newspaper press — to produce emergency notes, which is precisely why this series looks nothing like conventional colonial currency. It was printed on whatever paper the press had available, including in some documented instances interleaved paper stocks originally intended for newsprint runs.
Governor Heinrich Schnee authorized the issue under wartime necessity provisions. Lettow-Vorbeck's campaign kept the colony undefeated until after the Armistice, meaning these notes remained nominally valid longer than almost any other German colonial emission.