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50 Pfennig

Issuer Siebleben (Thuringia), Municipality of
Year 1921
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Value 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50)
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Obverse description A panoramic townscape vignette of Siebleben occupies the upper portion of the note, rendered in fine letterpress with a church tower rising above rooftops against a clouded sky. Below, a decorative thorn-branch border frames the lower panel, which carries the issuer inscription in bold Gothic script and validity clause in a smaller cursive hand. The denomination numeral '50' appears in a cartouche at lower left, with 'Pf.' at lower right, flanked by a faint circular underprint; the Bürgermeister's facsimile signature is printed centrally above his title.
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Reverse description The reverse is dominated by a large intaglio-style portrait bust of the German writer Gustav Freytag, set against a background of bookshelves and laurel sprigs, all enclosed within the characteristic thorn-branch border shared with the obverse. A header panel at the top carries the denomination '50 Pf.' flanking the name 'Gustav Freytag.' in Gothic lettering. At the foot, a text panel bears a facsimile quotation attributed to Freytag, accompanied by the date '27. 6. 72.' and his facsimile signature.
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Comments

Justus Perthes was one of Germany's most respected cartographic publishers — their atlases and geographic works had been printed in Gotha since the early nineteenth century. Taking on Notgeld commissions during the 1921 paper money crisis was a practical wartime pivot for many regional printers, and Perthes was geographically well-placed to serve the small Thuringian municipalities that couldn't access larger printing houses in Leipzig or Berlin.

Siebleben itself is a village that was later absorbed into Gotha — the issuing authority and the printer were essentially neighbors.

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