Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Pfennigs
| Issuer | Stadt Esslingen (City of Esslingen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917-1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Elaborate Art Nouveau interlace underprint in tan and black covers the entire field, interspersed with stylised vine and grape motifs. The fraction '1/2' is set within a central medallion above the inscription 'Mark Kriegsgeld der Stadt Eßlingen' in bold Gothic lettering, with the year '1917' on a red shield cartouche at centre. The city's sword-and-shield arms appear at left, with a monogram panel at right. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermark present in the paper substrate. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Esslingen's Notgeld issues came out of the same wartime necessity that pushed hundreds of German municipalities into emergency currency production after 1914 — Reichsbank coin shortages forced local authorities to fill the gap themselves. The J. F. Schreiber firm was a natural choice here: already established in Esslingen as a printer and publisher of educational materials, they were printing on their own doorstep rather than shipping work to a distant trade house.
The watermarked paper is worth noting. Many municipal Notgeld issues of this period skipped security features entirely, treating the notes as purely functional stopgaps. A watermark suggests at least some concern about local counterfeiting — or a printer with access to better stock than most.