Catalog
50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Swakopmunder Buchhandlung |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1918 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a pale red imperial eagle underprint, with the denomination "Fünfzig Pfg." in large bold letterpress. The issuer name "Swakopmunder Buchhandlung Ges. m. b. H." appears below, flanked by two signature lines for Geschäftsführer and Finalleiter. A dotted guilloche border frames the note, with a serial number in the upper right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gutschein über Fünfzig Pfg. Swakopmunder Buchhandlung Ges. m. b. H. Geschäftsführer Finalleiter |
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| Comments |
The Swakopmunder Buchhandlung — a bookshop in Swakopmund — became an unlikely emergency currency issuer during the First World War after South African forces occupied German South West Africa in 1915. With the German colonial administration collapsed and coinage virtually absent from circulation, local businesses issued their own Notgeld to keep commerce moving. A bookshop issuing fractional currency is unusual even by the loose standards of wartime Notgeld.
Pick 10 is one of the rarer survivors from this occupation period. The territory was under South African military administration by the time these notes circulated, which makes their legal standing genuinely ambiguous.