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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | City of Lehesten (Thuringia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Printer | Merzdorf & Frosch, Saalfeld a. S., Germany |
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| Obverse description | Central oval vignette presents a panoramic townscape of Lehesten set within the Thuringian Forest, rendered in fine letterpress line engraving. The denomination '50 Pfennig' appears in large blackletter type within dark decorated cartouches at upper left and right, with a gilt-toned geometric diamond-pattern border framing the entire note. Below the vignette, a text panel in Gothic script identifies the issuing authority, flanked by the town's heraldic shield bearing a fir tree at lower left and a miner's crossed hammer and pick tool at lower right, with the validity inscription 'GÜLTIG BIS 31. DEZEMBER 1921' printed vertically along both side margins. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Das Eichhorn kann von Ast zu Ast sich schwingen, Soweit er reicht, und nicht zu Boden springen. GBZBWVHZF 1619 gbzbwvhzf d.i. gottfried, bischof zu bamberg-würzburg und herzog zu franken. |
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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.