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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadt Pforzheim (City of Pforzheim) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Green letterpress on yellow-cream paper with an elaborate ornamental border incorporating armorial shield cartouches at the corners and foliate scroll medallions along each side, with the denomination numeral '50' repeated in rectangular panels at top, bottom, and both lateral margins. A vignette at left centre portrays a standing Renaissance-era knight in plumed hat and armour, resting his hand on the Pforzheim civic shield. To the right, the denomination '50 Pfennig' is set in bold Gothic (Fraktur) script above the issuing legend 'Gutschein der Stadt Pforzheim, den 1. Juli 1920', followed by a redemption clause in small text and the facsimile signature of the Oberbürgermeister, Gündert. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Green letterpress on yellow-cream paper, sharing the same ornamental border as the obverse with armorial cartouches at the corners and denomination panels reading '50' at top, bottom, and both sides. The central field is filled with a finely engraved allegorical vignette rendered against a dense guilloche background of concentric scroll waves, portraying two reclining female figures in classical drapery — one seated and gesturing, the other in a recumbent pose — evoking an allegory of abundance or the arts. Red printed control marks are visible in the lateral margins. |
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| Comments |
Pforzheim's notgeld issues of 1920 came at the height of Germany's postwar small-change crisis, when coin metal was being hoarded and the Reichsbank could not supply enough low-denomination currency to keep local commerce moving. Municipal authorities across the country were legally permitted — if somewhat reluctantly tolerated — to fill that gap with their own emergency paper, and Pforzheim, as a prosperous jewelry and watch-manufacturing center, had both the institutional capacity and the commercial urgency to act quickly.
The watermarked paper is worth noting: many city-issued notgeld of this period skipped security features entirely. Its inclusion here suggests the municipal treasury took counterfeiting seriously, or simply had access to better stock than most.