Dendermonde issued emergency municipal paper money during the German occupation of World War One, when coin shortages left local governments scrambling to keep small transactions functional. These Flemish city notes — known generically as "noodgeld" — were produced at the municipal level precisely because the national Belgian authorities couldn't or wouldn't coordinate a unified small-denomination solution quickly enough. Dendermonde had particular cause to remember the war: German troops burned much of the city in August 1914, one of the early atrocities that drew international outrage.
Whether this note predates or postdates that destruction is the real question for dating purposes.
Dendermonde issued emergency municipal paper money during the German occupation of World War One, when coin shortages left local governments scrambling to keep small transactions functional. These Flemish city notes — known generically as "noodgeld" — were produced at the municipal level precisely because the national Belgian authorities couldn't or wouldn't coordinate a unified small-denomination solution quickly enough. Dendermonde had particular cause to remember the war: German troops burned much of the city in August 1914, one of the early atrocities that drew international outrage.
Whether this note predates or postdates that destruction is the real question for dating purposes.