Catalog
5 Rupien
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse, on the same blue-green paper, carries the interlaced calligraphic 'DOB' monogram of the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank at the upper right and lower left corners, with the serial number repeated at upper left and lower right. Three central text blocks present the German guarantee clause attesting that the note's full value is deposited with the Imperial Government of German East Africa, a Swahili-language equivalent of that pledge, and a German counterfeiting warning, with the series letter 'F' printed at the right margin. |
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| Variants | P#36a(1) - very stiff gray-blue cardboard series F both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped violet P#36a(2) - very stiff gray-blue cardboard series F both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36a(3) - very stiff gray-blue cardboard series F both signatures black "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36b(1) - soft dark gray-blue cardboard, with impressed jute texture series F both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped violet P#36b(2) - soft dark gray-blue cardboard, with impressed jute texture series F both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36b(3) - soft dark gray-blue cardboard, with impressed jute texture series G both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36c - stiff dark gray cardboard series F both signatures black "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36d(1) - gray green cardboard, smooth series F both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped violet P#36d(2) - gray green cardboard, smooth series F both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36d(3) - gray green cardboard, smooth series F both signatures black "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36d(4) - gray green cardboard, impressed jute texture series G both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36d(5) - dark gray green cardboard, without impressed jute texture series G both signatures violet "DOAB" monograms stamped black P#36e(1) - light blue-green wrapping paper series G P#36e(2) - light blue-green wrapping paper series H P#36f - dark blue series X & F P#36x - series F (probably also E) both signatures violet without "DOAB" monograms at lower left and upper right on back a few of these probable printing errors have appeared on the market |
| Comments |
Printed under siege conditions in Dar es Salaam, this note belongs to the emergency currency improvised by the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank as the First World War cut the colony off from Germany entirely. With no possibility of importing professionally printed notes, local production using whatever materials were available became the only option. Paper quality varied wildly across the 1916 series, and many surviving examples show the effects of tropical storage — foxing, thinning, and ink bleed are common and expected for the type.
The colony held out longer than any other German overseas territory, surrendering only in November 1918. Notes from this series were still nominally in use at that point.