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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Trier (City of Trier) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Orange and red letterpress Notgeld note with a serrated border. A central vignette presents the Porta Nigra, the famous Roman city gate of Trier, rendered in grey and black against an amber ground. The denomination numeral '50' appears in the upper left and right corners, while an arched banner along the top carries the inscription 'NOT-GELD DER STADT TRIER'; flanking the gate vignette is a patriotic German verse in Gothic script. The denomination panel at the foot reads '50 PFENNIG 50' in large decorative lettering on a blue-grey ground. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is executed in red, blue-grey, and gold tones within a serrated border. At centre, the armorial shield of Trier bears a standing figure of Saint Peter with halo, key, and model of a church; flanking panels contain blue-grey scrollwork guilloche grounds with diamond-shaped lozenges enclosing the numeral '50' in red. A Gothic-script cautionary legend occupies the upper register, and the issuing authority statement with place, date, and the Oberbürgermeister's manuscript signature runs along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Trier's 1921 Notgeld issue belongs to the peculiar postwar moment when hundreds of German municipalities effectively became their own central banks out of necessity. The Reichsbank's inability to supply adequate small-denomination coinage after 1918 pushed civic authorities to print their own emergency fractional currency — legally tolerated, locally valid, and theoretically redeemable, though redemption rates varied considerably.
Schaar & Dathe were a Trier-based printing and lithography firm, which made them a natural choice for a city issue. Local production meant faster turnaround and avoided the queue at the larger specialist printers handling dozens of similar municipal commissions simultaneously across the Rhineland.
Trier at this date was under French occupation as part of the Rhineland demilitarized zone — a political circumstance that adds some bite to the city's decision to assert its own monetary instrument.