Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Magistrat Belgern a. E. (City of Belgern) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Rolandstadt Belgern a. E. 50 50 Fünfzig Pfennig Die Gültigkeit erlischt 3 Monate nach öffentlichem Aufruf. Belgern d. 1. Nov. 1921 Der Magistrat Lederbogen LOUIS KOCH - HALBERSTADT. |
| Reverse description | The entire face of the reverse is occupied by a large scenic vignette reproduced in monochrome letterpress after a painting by Adalbert von Roessler, showing Frederick the Great on horseback at the Marktplatz in Belgern at the opening of the Seven Years' War, with a crowd of soldiers and townspeople gathered before the town hall. A caption banner at the top credits the source painting, and a descriptive legend runs along the lower edge of the vignette. The bottom panel carries the city name in bold Gothic lettering within a decorative scroll border. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Belgern, a small town on the Elbe in Saxony, issued this note as part of the broader Notgeld phenomenon that flooded Germany with locally printed emergency currency following the postwar coin shortage. Louis Koch of Halberstadt was a regional commercial printer, not a specialist banknote firm, and the output reflects that — these notes were functional stopgaps, produced in short runs to keep local trade moving during a period when the Reichsbank simply could not supply enough small-denomination coin.
The single signatory, Lederbogen, was almost certainly the sitting Bürgermeister or a senior municipal official. Most Belgern Notgeld circulated briefly and was redeemed within months, which is why intact examples in any condition are modestly scarce today.