Catalog
50 Kopecks Latvia, Libava, Libau
| Issuer | Libau (Liepāja) City Administration |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 107 × 55 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ЛИБАВСКОЕ ГОРОДСКОЕ САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЕ ОБЯЗУЕТСЯ ОПЛАТИТЬ 50 Коп. 50 Сор. ЛИБАВСКОЕ ГОРОДСКОЕ САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЕ 1915 г. НАСТОЯЩУЮ ДОЛГОВУЮ РАСПИСКУ НЕМЕДЛЕННО ПО ОКОНЧАНИИ ВОЙНЫ. ПОДДЕЛКА КАРАЕТСЯ ПО УГОЛОВН. ЗАКОНАМЪ |
| Reverse description | The reverse repeats the same typographic and guilloche layout as the obverse but is unissued and blank of any serial number or signature, with the central cartouche now showing the Libau coat of arms vignette more clearly against the plain guilloche ground. Corner rosettes again carry '50' numerals, flanked by the denomination legends '50 Коп.' and '50 Сор.', and the year '1915 г.' appears at lower left; the anti-counterfeiting notices are reproduced vertically on both side margins as on the face. |
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| Comments |
Libau's 1915 emergency issues emerged from a specific administrative collapse: as German forces advanced through Courland in the spring of 1915, the Russian imperial monetary system simply stopped functioning in the western Baltic provinces. Local municipalities were left to fill the void themselves. Libau fell under German military occupation in May 1915, meaning these city-issued kopeck notes had an extraordinarily brief window of legitimate circulation under their original issuing authority.
The unlisted status in Pick reflects a broader documentation gap for Baltic municipal notgeld of this period — many issues were small-run, locally distributed, and rarely preserved.