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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadt Zell im Wiesental (City of Zell im Wiesental) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black and yellow-ochre on cream paper, with a bold decorative border of scrollwork and interlocking geometric zigzag motifs. The denomination 'Fünfzig Pfennig' is rendered in large Gothic blackletter script at centre, flanked by two small portrait vignettes — a woman in traditional dress at upper left and a male figure in period costume at upper right — each accompanied by a heraldic shield. The issuer inscription 'Stadt Zell i/W' appears at top in Gothic script, with the place and date 'Zell, 1 Okt. 1921' and a manuscript countersignature of the Gemeinderat below, alongside the validity clause 'Gültig bis 1 Monat nach Aufruf in der Oberländer Tagespost'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 50 Stadt Zell i.W. 50 |
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| Comments |
Zell im Wiesental sits in the Black Forest valley of the Wiese River, and like hundreds of small German municipalities in 1921, it was forced into the notgeld business not by choice but by the chronic shortage of small-denomination coinage that had plagued Germany since wartime metal requisitions. The Stadt issued this 50 Pfennig as a purely local stopgap — these notes were never legal tender beyond the issuing town and could only be redeemed at the municipal treasury.
The P# reference identifies this as one of a six-note series under the same issuer block, all sharing the R. Specht design credit. Specht's identity beyond the notgeld catalogs remains obscure — almost certainly a local commercial artist rather than a professional engraver.