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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Gemeinde Keitum (Municipality of Keitum) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The centre of the note is occupied by a two-colour letterpress vignette in green and red showing a traditional Frisian thatched farmhouse (Bauerngehöft) amid trees and garden shrubbery, with a secondary outbuilding at right; the artist's signature 'Reus' is placed at the lower right of the vignette. The denomination '50' in a decorative cartouche anchors the upper left corner, while the title legend in bold Gothic blackletter script runs across the top, and a caption identifying the scene appears below the vignette. A validity clause in Gothic script with the issuance date 'Keitum, den 1. September 1921', the issuing authority 'Der Gemeindevorstand', and the printer's imprint 'Friedrich Ball Westerland Sylt' complete the lower portion of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A multicolour letterpress vignette in green, red, and ochre tones fills the centre of the note, illustrating the Dorfstraße in Keitum — a rural village lane flanked by traditional red-brick Frisian farmhouses, outbuildings, trees, and low garden fences; the artist's signature 'Reus' is visible at the lower right of the vignette. A bold decorative border with stylised ornamental motifs including swords, medallions, and geometric devices frames all four sides of the note. The denomination and issuer are rendered in large Gothic blackletter script at the top ('Fünfzig Pf. Gutschein') and bottom ('Gemeinde Keitum a. Sylt'), with the scene caption 'Dorfstraße in Keitum' inscribed below the vignette. |
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| Comments |
Keitum is a village on the eastern shore of Sylt, and in 1921 it was issuing its own emergency currency — Notgeld — like hundreds of other German municipalities scrambling to fill the coin shortage that had persisted since the war. Friedrich Ball ran a local press in Westerland, just a few kilometers away, which is why the printing and at least part of the engraving stayed on the island rather than going to a mainland commercial house. The watermarked paper was a deliberate quality signal; Sylt Notgeld from this period was also produced partly as a collector item, sold to tourists, which funded the municipalities and explains the care taken with design credits.