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50 Pfennigs
| Issuer | Stadt Lünen (City of Lünen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in green and black on tan paper, framed by a decorative dotted border. A central vignette presents the crowned heraldic lion of Lünen on a green-ground shield, flanked symmetrically on left and right by the denomination numeral '50' above the word 'Pfennig' in bold Gothic lettering. The header cartouche reads 'Lüner Notgeld' in ornate Gothic script, and the lower panel carries the validity clause and issue date in cursive, concluded by the facsimile signature of the Bürgermeister. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in green, brown, and black on tan paper within a dotted decorative border. A central rectangular vignette renders a townscape of Lünen with a prominent Gothic church tower rising above half-timbered buildings and an arched stone gateway, executed in a finely detailed woodcut-style illustration. The denomination '50' appears twice in circular wreath cartouches on the left and right, with 'Fünfzig Pfennig' in Gothic lettering repeated in each of the four corners of the green underprint field. |
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| Comments |
Lünen's 1918 Notgeld issue belongs to the first major wave of municipal emergency currency in Germany, triggered by the wartime coin shortage that left everyday transactions nearly impossible. The Reichsbank had been hemorrhaging silver and copper into the war economy since 1914, and by 1918 even zinc coins were scarce enough that cities across Westphalia were printing their own substitutes rather than wait for central relief.
Stadt Lünen — a coal-mining town on the Lippe river — had neither the resources nor the prestige of larger issuers, which kept print runs modest and local redemption tight. Notes that survived uncirculated did so largely by accident.