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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Schmölln (Thuringia), City of |
|---|---|
| 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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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse carries a large arched vignette in blue and ochre showing a bare-torso male figure bent over an open chest or crate, set against a striped interior background with a barred window above; a lizard or salamander hangs to the right, and a satchel lies on the ground to the left. The denomination "50 Pfg." appears in bold Fraktur at upper left and upper right flanking the heading "Geldnot-Notgeld". A four-line German verse in a ruled cartouche at the foot of the design alludes to fires that plagued the Schmölln-Afrika district. |
| Reverse lettering | 50 Pfg. Geldnot-Notgeld Pfg. 50 An Feuersbrünsten hatt' vor Zeiten Schmölln-Afrika gar viel zu leiden. Doch diesmal, wie der Rat bekannt, Sind wir noch vielmehr abgebrannt. |
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| Comments |
Schmölln's notgeld program was among the more locally self-contained of the Thuringian issues — printed by a town printer rather than one of the major Leipzig or Berlin firms handling bulk emergency currency for hundreds of municipalities simultaneously. Göpel & Bartzsch operated within the town itself, which kept turnaround tight during the acute small-change shortage of 1921 but also meant production quality varied run to run.
Schmölln was the center of Germany's button-manufacturing industry, a detail that sometimes surfaces in the decorative imagery these notes used to market the town to collectors during the height of "serienscheine" speculation.