Catalog
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| Issuer | Stadt Hamm (Westfalen), Magistrat |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Bright yellow rectangular field set within a cream border with decorative zigzag or sawtooth edges, printed in dark brown and red. The denomination numeral "50" appears at upper left and right flanking the issuer name in Gothic blackletter script, with "Fünfzig Pfennig" in large red-highlighted blackletter across the centre. Below, three lines of text state the note's validity condition and place and date of issue, followed by "Der Magistrat:" with two facsimile manuscript signatures identifying the Oberbürgermeister and Bürgermeister. The circular municipal coat of arms of Hamm — a quartered red-and-white chequerboard shield beneath a mural crown — is centred at the foot of the yellow field. |
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| Obverse lettering | 50 Hamm (Westf.) 50 Fünfzig Pfennig Dieser Gutschein verliert seine Gültigkeit 1 Monat nach erfolgter öffentlicher Bekanntmachung. Hamm (Westf.) d. 1. Oktober 1921. Der Magistrat: Oberbürgermeister Bürgermeister |
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| Comments |
Hamm's 1921 Notgeld issue belongs to the second wave of German municipal emergency money — the so-called Serienscheine phase, when town councils discovered that collectors would buy attractively designed small-denomination notes outright, effectively providing interest-free loans to cash-strapped municipalities. The Magistrat was not alone in exploiting this; hundreds of Westphalian towns did the same. But it does mean that many surviving examples never circulated at all, purchased by collectors and filed away the moment they were issued.
The 50 Pfennig denomination was the workhorse of this format — high enough to matter for small transactions, low enough to be hoarded without financial pain.