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50 Mark Stadtsparkasse
| Issuer | Stadtsparkasse Bielefeld |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Woven silk note executed in dark blue, red, and ochre, centred on an allegorical vignette in which a standing angel surmounts a monument inscribed 'VON PARIS NACH BERLIN 1814', flanked by a civilian figure at left and a Prussian soldier at right, with German and French tricolor flags in the background. The denomination '50' appears in red within diamond frames at each lateral margin, while running text panels woven along the borders record German war casualties for 1870–71 and 1914–18. The date '9. APRIL 1922' and the issuer inscription 'DIE STADTSPARKASSE BIELEFELD' are integrated into the border lettering. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | DIE STADTSPARKASSE BIELEFELD · NIEMALS VERZWEIFELN · GLAUBE AN DEUTSCHLAND · ALS WERKZEUG GOTTES · DEUTSCHE KRIEGS-VERLUSTE 1870-71 · 41 413 TOTE u. 88 543 VERW. · DEUTSCHE KRIEGS-VERLUSTE 1914-18 · 1 808 555 TOTE · 4 246 779 VERW. · VON PARIS NACH BERLIN · 1814 · ALTERSHILFE IN DER STADT · HABEN VON STADTRAT · STADTGUT · AUF · BIELEFELD · 9. APRIL 1922 · BRINGER GEGENWERT GEGEN DIESE · ZEICHEN ÜBER |
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| Comments |
Bielefeld's silk Notgeld issues of 1921–1923 are among the most unusual emergency money produced anywhere in Germany during the hyperinflation period. The Stadtsparkasse commissioned E. Gundlach — a local printing and textile firm — to produce notes on actual woven silk rather than paper, partly as a hedge against the material worthlessness of paper currency and partly, it seems, as a deliberate collector play. Bielefeld was a center of the German linen and textile trade, so the choice of fabric carried some local logic.
Gundlach also produced Notgeld on linen and velvet for the same issuer. The silk examples attract the most attention, but condition is heavily dependent on how the note was stored — silk fibers yellow and fray in ways paper does not.