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50 Pfennigs
| Issuer | Stadt Thale am Harz (City of Thale am Harz) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Vivid Notgeld vignette in a folk-art lithographic style referencing the Walpurgis Night legend of the Harz region: two large black devil figures flank a central arched niche housing the coloured municipal coat of arms of Thale, with the motto 'Niemals zurück' inscribed beneath it. Owls perch in the trees at upper left, a bat hovers at upper right, a black cat sits at lower left, and a green frog occupies the lower right corner, while a white serpent stretches across the lower centre. Denomination panels of '50 Pfennig' appear at lower left and right in octagonal cartouches, with the validity clause and the facsimile signature of the Bürgermeister in the lower central text panel. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Kurhaus Hüttenverwaltungs Gebäude |
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| Comments |
Thale am Harz issued this note as part of Germany's vast Notgeld wave of the early 1920s, when hyperinflation and a chronic shortage of small change forced thousands of municipalities to produce their own emergency currency. Louis Koch of Halberstadt was a regional printer responsible for a number of similar municipal issues across the Harz area — competent, local, unremarkable.
Thale itself was a modest industrial town known for its ironworks and proximity to the Bode gorge. The city's Notgeld series drew on that regional identity, which was typical of how municipalities used these notes — partly as functional currency, partly as collectibles sold to tourists even at the time of issue.