Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadthauptkasse Gelsenkirchen and Gemeindekasse Rotthausen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse carries a central text block in Gothic letterpress script announcing that the Stadthauptkasse in Gelsenkirchen or the Gemeindekasse in Rotthausen will pay the bearer 50 Pfennig against this voucher, with the denomination numeral '50' printed in large figures on either side of the central inscription. The note is dated 15 Mai 1917 and bears the imprint of the Oberbürgermeister, with two manuscript signatures below. A printed validation clause at the foot of the note specifies the conditions of acceptance through local newspapers. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a large heraldic vignette in dark red on a plain cream ground, presenting a composite shield bearing three quarters — an eagle, a checky pattern, and a church with crossed mining hammers below — flanked symmetrically by laurel and oak branches forming a wreath. The design is printed in a single colour without additional lettering or border ornament, giving the reverse a clean, emblematic appearance typical of Notgeld issues from the Ruhr industrial region. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Gelsenkirchen and Rotthausen issued this note jointly in 1917, an unusual arrangement reflecting the administrative patchwork of the Ruhr before Rotthausen was absorbed into Gelsenkirchen proper in 1928. Notgeld of this period emerged not from monetary policy but from a simple shortage of small coinage — the Imperial government's metals were elsewhere, and municipalities scrambled to keep change in circulation.
A dual-issuer Pfennig note from two neighboring but legally distinct communities is uncommon even within the sprawling Notgeld catalogues of the First World War period.