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50 Pfennigs Handelskammer
| Issuer | Handelskammer Bonn (Chamber of Commerce, Bonn) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in dark brown and salmon-red on plain paper, the obverse carries at left a tall vignette of Mercury — the classical deity of commerce — shown semi-nude, wearing a winged helmet and holding an olive branch, set against a dark rectangular panel bearing the text of the guarantee inscription. The centre field displays a pink guilloche underprint over which the large denomination text 'Fünfzig Pfennig' is letterpress-printed in bold Gothic script, surmounted by the issuer heading 'HANDELSKAMMER · BONN' in a dark banner and the numeral '50' in a black cartouche at upper right. The date 'Bonn, den 15. Mai 1917', three manuscript signatures with their printed titles, and a serif serial number are arranged across the lower portion of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in violet-purple and presents a dense all-over underprint of repeated circular 'HB' (Handelskammer Bonn) monogram medallions interspersed with the numeral '50' and the text 'HANDELSKAMMER BONN', covering the entire field. At centre, two large overlapping guilloche rosettes flank the bold white numeral '50' set within an ornate lathe-work oval, forming the principal design element of this otherwise textless side. |
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| Comments |
Bonn's Chamber of Commerce began issuing Notgeld in 1917 as the wartime coin shortage gutted everyday retail transactions — small denominations had effectively vanished from circulation, hoarded or melted. Chambers of commerce across Germany stepped into the gap before municipalities made it standard practice, which makes early 1917 chamber issues like this one chronologically significant within the Notgeld sequence.
M. Dumont Schauberg was primarily a Cologne newspaper and publishing house, not a specialist security printer — a practical choice when dedicated banknote printers were overloaded with Reich contracts.