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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Artern, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Göthegeld von Artern Zum Gedächtnis der Goetheahnen Zur Krone Goethehaus Goethe 1921 Gültig bis Sylvester 1921 Artern i. Thüringen 50 Pfennige Adolf Forker, Leipzig |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a central rectangular vignette in dark ink, executed in a woodcut manner, showing two standing figures — a young woman and a man — embraced on an elevated rocky outcrop, with a church steeple and landscape visible in the background, evoking a scene from Goethe's 'Hermann und Dorothea.' The central scene is enclosed within a broad decorative border of stylised acanthus leaves and large thistle-like floral motifs rendered in green and dusky rose, giving the note a pronounced Art Nouveau character. The reverse carries no denomination text, relying entirely on the ornamental border and literary vignette for its design. |
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| Comments |
Artern's 1921 Kleingeldscheine issue was part of the enormous wave of municipal emergency currency that flooded Germany as postwar coin shortages made fractional denominations effectively unavailable in daily commerce. Adolf Forker was a Leipzig commercial printer who handled a significant volume of this notgeld work — competent, fast, and cheap, which was exactly what cash-strapped municipal administrations needed.
Artern itself is a small salt-mining town in Thuringia. The local economy was functional but not prosperous, and the need to commission even low-denomination scrip reflects how badly the Reichsbank's supply chain had broken down by 1921.