50 Pfennig

Vilshofen an der Donau is a small Lower Bavarian town, and its 1916 50 Pfennig Notgeld issue belongs to the earliest wave of municipal emergency currency — the phase before the Reichsbank had established any coherent policy on local scrip. German cities and towns began printing their own small-denomination notes in 1914–1915 as metal coinage disappeared into hoarding and wartime industrial use. By 1916, the practice was widespread but still largely uncoordinated, with individual Stadtmagistrate setting their own paper stock and print runs.

Vilshofen's issue predates the more collectible 1920–1922 Notgeld series that flooded the market with decorative artwork. This is functional wartime paper, not souvenir scrip.