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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadt Chemnitz (City of Chemnitz) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Notgeld voucher printed in dark ink on plain paper, with a decorative ornamental frame at left enclosing the large numeral '50' above the word 'Pfennig' and a stylised heraldic vignette below. To the right, the text is set in Gothic (Fraktur) blackletter script giving the issuing authority and denomination, followed by the validity clause, date of issue (1. April 1917), and the issuing body 'Der Rat der Stadt Chemnitz'. A red alphanumeric serial prefix letter appears at lower left alongside the printed serial number. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is plain and unadorned, consisting of unprinted grey-toned paper with vertical watermark-like striping visible across the surface, likely an inherent feature of the paper stock used. No text, vignettes, or additional design elements are present. |
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| Comments |
Chemnitz was one of the most industrially dense cities in Saxony, and by 1917 the wartime coin shortage — driven by metal requisitioning and hoarding — had forced hundreds of German municipalities to issue their own small-denomination emergency paper. This 50 Pfennig note is Notgeld in the strict early sense: a functional substitute, not the decorative collector-targeted issues that flooded the market from 1920 onward.
Municipal Notgeld of this period was typically authorized under Imperial emergency ordinances and intended for strictly local redemption. Chemnitz's industrial payroll demands made small-change shortages acutely disruptive.