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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadt Kempen Rhein (City of Kempen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Grey-green letterpress reverse with a geometric guilloche border and repeating chevron band ornaments flanking a central rectangular vignette of a historic Kempen townhouse or municipal building rendered in fine line engraving. The denomination numeral 50 appears in each of the four corners within circular rosettes matching the obverse, and the printer's imprint is set in small type along the lower margin. A red oval control stamp is applied across the central vignette. |
| Reverse lettering | F. WEFERS & F. AUDIGER, KEMPEN, Rh. |
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| Comments |
Kempen am Rhein issued this note in 1918 under the Notgeld system, which allowed German municipalities to print emergency small-denomination currency as wartime coin shortages drained metal from everyday commerce. The authorization came from local civic authorities rather than any central banking body — city councils, chambers of commerce, and even individual businesses acquired that right almost by default as the Reichsbank failed to supply adequate fractional coinage.
F. Wefers & F. Audiger were a local printing firm, and their involvement here is typical of Notgeld production generally: small regional printers filling a gap the state had abandoned. The 50 Pfennig denomination sits at the practical center of the shortage problem — enough to matter for daily transactions, too small to be replaced by silver.