Catalog
50 Pfennigs
| Issuer | Gemeindekasse Freienohl (Municipality of Freienohl, Prussian province of Westphalia) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NOTGELDSCHEIN der Freiheit Freienohl im Sauerland / Die Gemeindekasse Freienohl zahlt dem Einlieferer den Wert dieses Scheines bis einen Monat nach erfolgter Aufrufung / Der Amtmann — Der Gemeindevorsteher |
| Reverse description | No image of the reverse is available for description. |
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| Comments |
Freienohl is a small village on the Ruhr river in the Sauerland — the kind of place that would never appear in a currency catalog under ordinary circumstances. This note exists because of the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany from around 1916 onward, as metal coinage disappeared from circulation and the Reichsbank failed to fill the gap quickly enough. Municipal treasuries, local businesses, and even individual employers were left to print their own fractional paper — Notgeld in the strict wartime sense, distinct from the decorative collector issues that followed in the early 1920s.
The Gemeindekasse (municipal cashier's office) rather than a commercial issuer is notable; this came directly from local government authority, not private improvisation.