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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadt Erfurt (City of Erfurt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a bold, expressionist numeral '50' in a large black sans-serif typeface set within a central rectangular vignette. To the upper left is a stylised Luther rose with a cross at its centre, and to the upper right a circular wheel or rosette ornament with radiating lines. Flanking text in Gothic blackletter script reads 'Fünfzig' at left and 'Pfennig' at right, with a two-column redemption clause below; the lower portion carries the legend 'Notgeld der Stadt Erfurt', the issue date 'Erfurt, den 7. April 1921', a serial number at lower left, and a manuscript signature for 'Der Magistrat', with the printer's imprint 'A. Hanf – Erfurt' at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse bears a striking woodcut-style vignette in bold black ink, rendered in an expressionist manner and occupying the full central field. A robed figure, identifiable as Martin Luther, stands behind a kneeling or seated figure before the soaring Gothic spires of Erfurt Cathedral in the background. Vertical panels of Gothic blackletter text flank the scene on both sides, bearing a quotation attributed to Luther, with the printer's imprint 'Otto Richters u. Co., Erfurt' inscribed along the lower right margin. |
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| Comments |
Erfurt's 1921 50 Pfennig notgeld was produced by two local printers simultaneously — Alfred Hanf and Otto Richters & Co., both based in the city — a split-production arrangement common in municipalities that needed to move quickly when Reichsbank coin supplies dried up after the war. The inflationary spiral of the early Weimar years made small-denomination metal coinage functionally disappear from circulation almost overnight, forcing thousands of German towns and cities to issue their own emergency scrip.
Erfurt was unusually well-served by its local printing trade, which kept production costs down and turnaround fast. Different print runs from Hanf versus Richters can sometimes be distinguished by subtle typographic variation.