50 Pfennigs

Sondershausen was the capital of the tiny principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, which had been absorbed into the German Empire in 1918 just months before this note was issued — the "Residenzstadt" in the issuer title is already an anachronism, the princely court having effectively ceased to function. Municipal Notgeld of this period proliferated across Germany as small-denomination coins vanished from circulation, hoarded by a public that no longer trusted the Reich's monetary stability.

Authentication here rests entirely on the handwritten signature and official stamp — no mechanical security whatsoever. Forgery would have been trivially easy, which is why most issues like this were redeemable only within their home municipality.