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 | Gemeinderat Sankt Tönis |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 is printed in dark green and black on cream paper, with a green guilloche underprint across the entire field. A large central oval vignette in letterpress bears the denomination inscription in Gothic script, with the numeral '50' in bold below. Surrounding text in Fraktur script states the voucher conditions, the issuing date, and the municipal authority, with a serial number panel ruled at the foot. The four corners carry bold black panels bearing '50' and 'Pf.' designations. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in green and black on cream paper, with decorative guilloche panels flanking the central vignette on either side. The central illustration, executed in a fine line-engraved style, renders an early mechanical loom with a seated weaver at work, referencing the local textile industry of Sankt Tönis. Below the vignette, a four-line verse in Low German dialect script is set in a plain text band, with bold diamond-shaped panels bearing the numeral '50' to the left and right. |
| 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 |
Sankt Tönis, a small textile town in the Lower Rhine region, was one of hundreds of German municipalities forced to print their own emergency currency after the Reichsbank proved unable to maintain adequate small-denomination coinage in circulation following the war. The Gemeinderat — the town council — acted as issuer, a common but legally awkward arrangement that gave local officials direct control over a parallel monetary supply they had no professional infrastructure to manage.
Notgeld of this type was frequently over-issued relative to actual local need, with councils sometimes printing far beyond redemption capacity. Whether Sankt Tönis stayed within prudent limits is not well documented.