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50 Pfennig
| Issuer | Stadthauptkasse Altona (City of Altona) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Aushilfsschein der Stadt Altona Fünfzig Pfennig Dieser Aushilfsschein wird von der Stadthauptkasse und von allen Altonaer und Hamburger Banken bis zum 1. Februar 1919 in Zahlung genommen. Er verliert seine Gültigkeit, wenn er nicht bis zum 1. Februar 1919 bei der Altonaer Stadthauptkasse oder einer Altonaer oder Hamburger Bank zur Zahlung vorgelegt ist. ALTONA, den 2. November 1918. Namens der Stadt Altona. Oberbürgermeister Bürgermeister Bürgerworthalter stellvertr. Bürgermeister H.W. Köbner & Co. G.m.b.H. Altona |
| Reverse description | Plain buff/cream paper reverse printed in black, with the numeral '50' in each of the four corners. The word 'Aushilfsschein' in Gothic blackletter script appears at the top centre between the upper corner numerals. A large central oval vignette in fine engraved style depicts the Altona city arms — a turreted gate within a crosshatched ellipse — surrounded by an elaborate wreath of oak leaves and an outer band of repeating roundel ornaments. Below the vignette, the inscription 'der Stadt Altona' is rendered in matching Gothic script, with the numeral '50' repeated at each lower corner. |
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| Comments |
Altona occupied an unusual administrative position in 1918 — a Prussian city geographically encircled by Hamburg but stubbornly independent, not formally incorporated until 1937. The Stadthauptkasse, the municipal treasury, issued this Notgeld in response to the wartime coin shortage that had stripped small-denomination metal from everyday commerce across Germany. Local bodies issuing their own emergency fractional currency was not unusual by 1918, but the Altona issues carry the added layer of a city acutely aware of its own distinct civic identity.
Köbner printed locally, which was the norm for Notgeld of this type — transit costs and urgency made distant printers impractical.