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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Kreis Herrschaft Schmalkalden |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | 30 September 1922 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gültig nur innerhalb des Kreises Herrschaft Schmalkalden Fünfzig Pfennig Der Kreis Herrschaft Schmalkalden verpflichtet sich zur Einlösung dieses Scheines bis zum 30. September 1922 Schmalkalden, den 1. Juli 1921 Kreisausschuß Der Vorsitzende Ges. b. Kurt Jäckel Druck von Feodor Wilisch Schmalkalden |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black and blue on a cream ground, with bold decorative borders of interlocking foliate guilloche at left and right, each enclosing a denomination medallion reading '50' and 'Pfg' respectively. The central vignette presents a bust portrait of Martin Luther rendered in a woodcut style against a solid blue ground, with his name lettered vertically on either side. The issuer's title runs along the top in spaced roman capitals, and the dates of the Schmalkaldic League appear along the bottom border. |
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| Comments |
Schmalkalden is best known among historians as the site of the 1531 Protestant League and Luther's 1537 articles, but this 50 Pfennig Notgeld piece belongs to an altogether more mundane crisis — the acute coin shortage that gripped Germany in the inflationary spiral following the First World War. Kreise across the country were empowered to issue their own emergency small-denomination notes, and Herrschaft Schmalkalden was no exception.
Feodor Wilisch was a local Schmalkalden printer, and the involvement of a named designer, Kurt Jäckel, was not unusual for the better-produced Notgeld issues of 1921 — municipalities often treated these notes as minor civic showcases, commissioning original artwork rather than relying on plain typeset slips.