Thale's 1923 notgeld issue belongs to the wave of German municipal emergency coinage produced as Weimar-era inflation obliterated the purchasing power of Reichsmark currency. The city chose to celebrate its tourist geography — the Bode Valley gorge, the Rosstrappe cliff, and the Hexentanzplatz plateau above it — at a moment when printing a functionally equivalent paper note would have cost almost nothing. Tombac, a brass-type alloy, was a common notgeld substitute when nickel and copper were either scarce or too valuable to mint.
The three Men18 reference numbers suggest at least three distinct die or edge varieties documented for this type.
Thale's 1923 notgeld issue belongs to the wave of German municipal emergency coinage produced as Weimar-era inflation obliterated the purchasing power of Reichsmark currency. The city chose to celebrate its tourist geography — the Bode Valley gorge, the Rosstrappe cliff, and the Hexentanzplatz plateau above it — at a moment when printing a functionally equivalent paper note would have cost almost nothing. Tombac, a brass-type alloy, was a common notgeld substitute when nickel and copper were either scarce or too valuable to mint.
The three Men18 reference numbers suggest at least three distinct die or edge varieties documented for this type.