Catalog
50 Rupien
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Rupees |
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| Obverse description | Plain grey fibrous paper note of wartime emergency issue, enclosed within a double-rule rectangular border with corner ornaments. The issuer's name, Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank, is set in bold display type at centre, with a two-line explanatory legend below stating payment without proof of identity at the bank's offices in the German East African Protectorate. The denomination 50 Fünfzig Rupien appears in large bold numerals and text across the centre field, with the date Daressalam/Tabora, 1. Oktober 1915 at lower left and the branch attribution Zweigniederlassung Daressalam at lower right, below which two manuscript signatures appear under the captions Eingetragen durch and In Vollmacht. The heading Interims-Banknote is printed in a solid black band at the top of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#46a - soft gray cardboard P#46b - stiff brown cardboard |
| Comments |
Printed under wartime siege conditions, this note was produced after the Allied naval blockade cut German East Africa off from outside supply lines entirely. The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Druckerei was a commercial press in Dar es Salaam never intended for currency production, and it shows — the printing quality is noticeably cruder than the pre-war series produced in Germany.
Governor Heinrich Schnee authorized the emergency issues as the territory's economy strained under General Lettow-Vorbeck's extended guerrilla campaign. The paper itself was locally sourced, sometimes from whatever stock the printer had on hand, and composition varies between surviving examples. The 1915 series circulated alongside improvised Behelfsgeld well into 1916 before Dar es Salaam fell to British forces in September of that year.