50 Pfennig

Oelde is a small Westphalian town, and this note is a product of the Kleingeldersatz crisis that gripped Germany from 1916 onward — chronic coin shortages, exacerbated by wartime metal requisitioning, pushed hundreds of municipalities into printing their own fractional paper. By 1920 the worst of the shortage had technically passed, but many towns continued issuing Notgeld well into the early inflation years simply because local commerce had grown dependent on the substitute currency and central supplies remained unreliable.

The DeNG reference places this within the third subtype of the Oelde issue, suggesting at least minor variants exist within the series — likely differing in serial numbering, date, or authorizing signature.