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50 Pfennig - Neustadt O.Schl. S. Fränkel
| Issuer | S. Fränkel, Neustadt (Upper Silesia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Octagonal zinc notgeld token with a plain, unadorned field. The large numeral '50' occupies the central field in bold raised relief, enclosed within an inner dotted circle. The circular legend reading 'S. FRÄNKEL NEUSTADT O/SCHL.' runs along the outer border between two concentric dotted rims, with a small five-pointed star appearing at the base of the legend. The overall design is utilitarian, consistent with wartime emergency small-change issues. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Octagonal reverse displaying the large numeral '50' prominently in the central field, surrounded by an inner rope or twisted border. The circular legend 'KLEINGELDERSATZMARKE' ('small change substitute token') arcs around the upper portion of the coin between the rope border and an outer dotted rim. Three small five-pointed stars are evenly spaced along the lower portion of the field beneath the inner border, serving as decorative punctuation. The design is spare and functional, typical of German First World War notgeld coinage. |
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| Additional information |
S. Fränkel was almost certainly a local merchant or small firm issuing this piece as Notgeld — emergency currency that flooded Germany in 1918 as the imperial coinage system collapsed under wartime metal requisitioning and a near-total withdrawal of small change from circulation. Towns, businesses, and even individual shops printed or struck their own fractional currency to keep commerce moving. Zinc was the material of last resort by this point; copper and nickel had been redirected to munitions production years earlier.
Neustadt in Upper Silesia would change hands politically within just a few years, becoming Prudnik under Polish administration after the 1921 plebiscite and subsequent partition.