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50 Pfennige
| Issuer | Stadtkasse Bodenwerder (City of Bodenwerder, Prussian province of Hanover) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black and orange-red on plain paper. The issuer's name 'Stadt Bodenwerdera.W.' is set in large Gothic blackletter script across the top. The central octagonal vignette, framed by fine horizontal line guilloche work, carries the denomination legend 'Gut für Fünfzig Pfennig' in blackletter. To the left and right, symmetrical rectangular panels each contain a stylised figure of Baron Münchhausen riding a rearing horse, rendered in orange-red, overlaid by a large bold numeral '50' and the abbreviation 'Pf.' A lower text panel bears the redemption clause, place and date of issue, and the facsimile signature of the Stadtsparkasse authorised signatory. The printer's imprint 'SELMAR BAYER, BERLIN S.O.36' and the designer's credit 'Entw. Gg. Bodey. Bodenwerder' appear in the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black and orange-red. Three header panels at the top read 'Anno 1287' at left, 'Hieronymus v. Münchhausen Abenteuer' at centre, and '1720–1920' at right. The central vignette, set against a solid orange-red ground and framed by ornamental scroll borders, shows Baron Münchhausen pulling himself and his horse free from a swamp by his own pigtail, a scene from the famous Münchhausen tales. Flanking the central vignette are two heraldic shields: at left the arms of Bodenwerder with a tower motif, at right a second armorial device, both enclosed within decorative scroll cartouches. The lower register carries large orange-red numerals '50' at each corner and a four-line verse in German script at centre. |
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| Comments |
Bodenwerder issued this Notgeld piece in 1921 during the inflationary spiral that made small-denomination Reichsmark coinage effectively worthless — hoarding and melting had stripped circulation of its fractional metal currency, forcing hundreds of German municipalities to print their own emergency issues. The Stadtkasse, not a bank, was the issuing authority here, meaning this note carried the direct liability of the city treasury rather than any financial institution.
Designer Gg. Bodey was a local figure, almost certainly commissioned to keep production costs down. Selmar Bayer in Berlin handled the actual printing — a small commercial house that took on considerable municipal Notgeld work during this period.