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| Issuer | Stadt Breslau (City of Breslau) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Stadt Breslau Auf diesen Gutschein zahlt die Stadhauptkasse in Breslau jedem Einlieferer Fünfzig Pfennig Breslau, am 19. Juni 1917 Der Magistrat Gültig bis zum Ablauf desjenigen Monats, der auf den Monat folgt, in dem der Magistrat zur Rücklieferung an die Stadhauptkasse aufgefordert hat GRASS, BARTH & COMP. W. FRIEDRICH BRESLAU |
| Reverse description | Dark brown letterpress design on plain paper, enclosed within a decorative lace-pattern border. At left, a vertical vignette depicts a crowned female allegorical figure holding two flags, set above a heraldic cartouche with a grotesque mask at the base. The central panel, framed by scrollwork cartouches, carries the text 'Gutschein über Fünfzig Pfennig / Stadt Breslau' in Gothic blackletter over a green guilloche underprint. At right, a separate panel contains the denomination abbreviation '50 Pf' above a blank circular underprint reserved for a stamp impression, with the year '1917' below. |
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| Comments |
Breslau's 1917 Kleingeldscheine were issued to address the severe small-denomination coin shortage that swept German municipalities after silver and copper were pulled from circulation for war production. The city was effectively printing its own subsidiary currency — a stopgap the Reich tolerated rather than endorsed, which is why no two cities' Notgeld series are quite alike in format or authorization language.
Grass, Barth & Comp., trading under the W. Friedrich imprint, was a Breslau firm printing for its own municipality — an unusual proximity that occasionally shows in the quality consistency of surviving examples from this series.