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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | City of Lehesten (Thuringia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 96 × 60 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 50 Pfennig Gold und Silber lieb ich sehr ✦ Könnt es gut gebrauchen. Notgeld der Bergstadt u. Sommerfrische Lehesten im Thüringerwald im Juni 1921. Bürgermeisteramt: Obenaus GÜLTIG BIS 31. DEZEMBER 1921 |
| Reverse description | Central vignette portrays an engraved forest boundary stone dated 1619 bearing a quartered heraldic shield with wagon wheels and a lion, set against a dense Thuringian woodland background. At upper left, a small oval medallion contains a decorative feather or plant motif with an inscription band, while at lower left a circular printer's or publisher's mark is present; the note number '5' appears at lower left margin. A two-part text panel in Gothic script above and below the central vignette carries a German verse and an explanatory legend decoding the stone's inscription abbreviation. |
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| Comments |
Lehesten is a small slate-mining town in the Thuringian highlands, and its 1921 notgeld issue reflects the acute small-change shortage that plagued Germany's municipal economies in the inflation's early stages — before hyperinflation proper took hold. Hundreds of German towns commissioned local printers for exactly this purpose, and Merzdorf & Frosch in nearby Saalfeld was a natural choice for the region's smaller municipalities.
Lehesten's slate quarries had operated continuously since the 16th century, supplying roofing material across central Europe. The town had enough commercial activity to justify its own emergency issue but not enough political weight to attract one of the major Leipzig or Berlin printing houses.