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50 Pfennig Kyffhäuser Series
| Issuer | Frankenhausen (Thuringia), 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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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Orange and black letterpress Notgeld note with an oak-leaf and berry decorative border framing the entire design. The central vignette presents a panoramic view of Bad Frankenhausen with the ruined Kyffhäuser castle perched on rocky heights above the town, signed by the artist H.L. Braune at lower right of the vignette. Below, the town coat of arms appears at lower left within a shield, while an inscription commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Kyffhäuser Monument is set alongside a circular validity cartouche reading 'Frankenhäuser Notgeld / Gültig bis 31. Juli 1921'; three facsimile signatures of city council members appear at the foot of the note above their respective titles. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Black and blue-grey letterpress note with vertical oak-leaf decorative side panels flanking a central rectangular vignette. The vignette presents a dramatic rendition of the Kyffhäuser Monument tower rising against a radiating sunburst sky, with biplanes visible in the background, signed by H.L. Braune at lower left. A caption panel below the vignette bears the inscription 'Huldigung der deutschen Flieger'; denomination numerals '50 Pfg.' appear in Gothic script within the left and right decorative side panels. |
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| Comments |
The Kyffhäuser series was issued during the notgeld boom of 1921, when German municipal authorities were printing local emergency currency faster than the Reichsbank could supply small-denomination notes to meet demand. Frankenhausen's choice to commission a themed series rather than a purely functional scrip reflects the period's peculiar mixture of fiscal crisis and civic pride — many towns treated notgeld as an opportunity for promotion, and series were actively collected, creating a secondary market that encouraged overprinting well beyond genuine circulation needs.
Germeyer in Berlin was a specialist in this trade, handling numerous municipal commissions during the inflation years. H.L. Braune's design credit is unusually specific attribution for notgeld of this period.