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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Schierke, Municipality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is a richly illustrated Notgeld vignette in a letterpress colour print. At centre, a silhouette portrait of Goethe is set within a laurel wreath against a mountainous Harz landscape rendered in purple, green and blue tones, with figures in period costume to the right. Across the upper register, a scroll cartouche bears the title 'Goethe's Faust I. Teil' flanked by quotation text, while the denomination 'Fünfzig Pfg.' is inscribed in bold Gothic script below the central vignette. The lower register carries the issuing authority, date, and a serial number in a ruled box at lower left, with redemption and expiry conditions in flanking panels. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse carries a colour vignette of the Neue Kirche (New Church) of Schierke, its tall Gothic spire and red-roofed nave visible through a dense frame of tall Harz conifers rendered in deep greens and blacks. The arched composition is set against a warm ochre background, with the denomination numeral '50' printed in bold red Gothic type in each upper corner. A banner scroll at the base bears the place name in Gothic lettering, with a small caption identifying the church beneath. |
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| Comments |
Schierke is a small resort village in the Harz Mountains, and its decision to issue emergency currency in 1921 was entirely typical of the Kleingeldnot — the small-change shortage — that pushed thousands of German municipalities into printing their own Notgeld during the inflationary spiral following the First World War. Louis Koch of Halberstadt was a regional printer who produced Notgeld for numerous Harz-area communities during this period; his output was competent rather than distinguished.
Schierke's issues are collected primarily as Serienscheine — decorative sets issued as much for philatelic sale to tourists as for actual monetary use, a practice that became widespread enough by 1921 that the notes' real circulation was often negligible.