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50 Pfennigs
| Issuer | Städtische Sparkasse Geestemünde |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black and red on a grey-beige ground, framed by a plain border. Upper left carries a circular vignette with the denomination '50 PFENNIG' in bold red numerals on a black ground; to its right, the issuing text of the Städtische Sparkasse Geestemünde is set in blackletter, giving the date 1. Oktober 1920 and the account reference 'Konto Nr. 112'. The lower half is dominated by a letterpress vignette of the steam trawler 'Saturn PG 164' at sea, before a schematic harbour warehouse underprint, with a tricolour (black-white-red) pennant bearing the motto 'ORA ET LABORA' billowing above the vessel; to the lower right, a circular emblem in black and red displays a stylised planet Saturn, while a manuscript signature reading 'Fischversand "SATURN" Joh. Müller' appears at upper right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Erst wägen, dann wagen! |
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| Comments |
Geestemünde was absorbed into the newly created city of Bremerhaven in 1924, which means the Städtische Sparkasse that issued this note ceased to exist as an independent institution within just a few years of printing it. German municipal savings banks had limited authority to issue emergency currency — Notgeld — during the postwar inflation period, and the 1920 date places this squarely in the transitional phase before hyperinflation made small-denomination Notgeld entirely obsolete.
Franz Scherrer in Hannover was a mid-tier provincial printer responsible for a significant volume of municipal Notgeld across Lower Saxony. Not a prestige commission.