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50 Pfennigs
| Issuer | Magistrat Oppeln (City of Oppeln, Upper Silesia) |
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| Year | |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is set against a fine geometric guilloche underprint with corner rosettes and repeating foliate border ornaments. The denomination "50" appears in the upper corners, with the central text block rendered in Fraktur script announcing the obligation of the Stadthauptkasse in Oppeln to pay the bearer. Below the main denomination legend in large Gothic blackletter type reads "Fünfzig Pfennig", followed by the issuing authority "Magistrat Oppeln" and a validity clause in smaller Fraktur text. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse carries a detailed line-engraved vignette of the Oppeln Town Hall (Rathaus) square, with the prominent Gothic tower rising above the main civic building and surrounding architecture, animated by small figures in the foreground plaza. The large denomination numeral "50 Pf" is printed in bold Gothic type in the upper right area above the vignette. The composition is framed by a simple ruled border. |
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| Comments |
Oppeln (now Opole, Poland) was one of hundreds of German municipalities that issued Notgeld during the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany from 1916 onward. This 50 Pfennig note was printed locally by Erdmann Raabe, a regional firm — not one of the major security printers — which is exactly what you'd expect from a Magistrat working quickly and cheaply to solve a practical circulation problem.
Upper Silesia's postwar status as a plebiscite territory after 1918 makes precise dating consequential here: Notgeld issued before the March 1921 vote carries different administrative weight than anything issued after, when the region's partition was still being contested between Germany and Poland.