50 Pfennig

Sankt Andreasberg was a silver-mining town in the Harz whose veins had been largely exhausted since the late eighteenth century; by 1921 it survived as a health resort (hence Kurverwaltung — spa administration) rather than an industrial centre. The 50 Pfennig note is Notgeld, issued during the inflationary crisis that made small-denomination Reichsmark coinage effectively disappear from circulation as hoarding and melting became endemic.

Gieseke's print shop in nearby Bad Lauterberg was a routine regional contractor for Harz-area Notgeld — dozens of municipalities used similar local printers rather than the larger Leipzig or Berlin houses.