Catalog
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!
| Issuer | Gemeinderat Solnhofen (Municipality of Solnhofen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 black on a light ground with tan lateral borders. A central vignette presents a full-length statue of Aloys Senefelder, inventor of lithography, standing on a pedestal; the denomination numeral '50' appears in large Gothic letterpress type at both left and right. The place name 'Solnhofen' is inscribed in a ruled cartouche at the top, with the redemption clause, issue date, and two facsimile authority signatures occupying the lower flanking panels. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Bodenplatten-Industrie 50 Solnhofen |
| 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 |
Solnhofen is a small Bavarian municipality with a geological reputation far exceeding its administrative significance — the lithographic limestone quarried there gave Alois Senefelder the material for his invention of lithography in the late eighteenth century, and the same formation yielded the first confirmed Archaeopteryx specimen in 1861. None of that is why this note exists. It exists because the postwar coin shortage of 1921 left small municipalities scrambling to produce fractional emergency currency, and Louis Koch in Halberstadt was one of dozens of provincial printers servicing that demand.
The two manuscript signatures — Ohmann and Bornstr. — were applied individually to each note as a validation requirement, a labor-intensive practice that effectively limited issue quantities.