Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Pfennig Zoologischer Garten
| Issuer | Zoologischer Garten Leipzig (Leipzig Zoological Garden) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Black letterpress note printed on cream paper, with the denomination '50 PFENNIG 50' running vertically in bold white lettering on both side borders within a solid black frame. The central field carries the Gothic-script heading 'DIESE WERTMARKE' above a silhouette vignette of the Leipzig Zoological Garden's architectural ensemble, including a tall tower and arched structures. Text in Fraktur script states the note's acceptance terms and validity date, with the issuing authority 'Die Direktion des Zoologischen Gartens' and a manuscript signature of Dr. Gebbing to the right, dated Leipzig, 3. Mai 1921. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in orange and black, with a bold decorative border in dark brown enclosing the legends 'ZOOLOGISCHER GARTEN' across the top, 'LEIPZIG' vertically on both side borders, and 'MIT AQUARIUM' along the bottom. The central orange field contains a stamp-like vignette of a white elephant rendered in a bold, stylised woodcut manner, with the denomination numeral '50' appearing in the upper left and upper right corners of the inner frame. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Leipzig's zoo issued its own notgeld in 1921 as part of the broader German emergency money phenomenon — municipalities, businesses, and institutions printing small-denomination scrip to address the coin shortage that had persisted since the war. A zoological garden doing so is not unusual for the period; hundreds of German commercial and civic bodies did the same. What gives these zoo-issued pieces their collector following is the specificity of the issuer: this is promotional scrip as much as functional currency, and the zoo's administration knew it.
Dr. Gebbing signed as director. The reference DeNG 1/2#0787.1 places it firmly within the documented Saxony notgeld corpus.