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50 Pfennig Bonifatius Series
| Issuer | Ohrdruf (Thuringia), City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is divided into a grid-like layout with a green and black colour scheme. The upper register carries the bold Gothic-script legend NOTGELD DER STADT OHRDRUF, flanked at each corner by red and black cartouches bearing the denomination 50 PFENNIG. The central field presents three vignettes: a circular view of a multi-storey historic municipal building at left, the city arms at centre showing a haloed angel figure holding a sword with a red diamond-patterned shield, and a circular landscape at right with a tall commemorative column amid trees. Interlaced knotwork panels frame the lateral borders, and the lower register carries the validity date GÜLTIG BIS 31. DEZEMBER 1921, the issue date OHRDRUF / DEN 1. SEPTEMBER 1921, the manuscript signature of DER STADTRAT, and a serial number in the format E. No XXXXXX. |
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| Obverse lettering | NOTGELD DER STADT OHRDRUF 50 PFENNIG ZUM GEDÄCHTNIS AN DIE GRUENDUNG DER STADT OHRDRUF DURCH BONIFATIUS J. 724 GÜLTIG BIS 31. DEZEMBER 1921 OHRDRUF / DEN 1. SEPTEMBER 1921 DER STADTRAT: |
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| Comments |
Ohrdruf issued this note during the Kleingeldnot — the small-change shortage that plagued Germany in the early 1920s as inflation eroded coin metal values faster than the mint could respond. Municipal and commercial authorities across Thuringia printed their own Notgeld as a practical fix, not a political statement. Ohrdruf's selection of the Bonifatius theme was a local cultural reference: the town sits near Geismar, where the Anglo-Saxon missionary Winfrid — later Boniface — famously felled the sacred oak around 723 AD.
A print run of over twelve million pieces is substantial for a municipal issue of this type, suggesting the notes were distributed well beyond the immediate locality.