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75 Pfennig
| Issuer | Magistrat der Stadt Altona |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Square notgeld note printed in black, green, and yellow. A bold banner at top reads "NOTGELD DER STADT" above the large numeral "75 Pf." rendered in green script on a dark central panel, flanked on either side by stylised vignettes of Gothic church spires rising from arched bases. The city name "ALTONA" appears in a decorative ribbon band below the central panel, with the issuing authority "DER MAGISTRAT." and date "ALTONA/ELBE 12. DEZ. 1921" at foot, accompanied by four manuscript signatures. A handwritten serial number and a validity notice in German script appear at the top margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a humorous coloured vignette in the style of German Expressionist illustration, signed "Llaus", showing a portly anthropomorphic pig wearing a top hat and riding astride a large pheasant in flight, holding a small flower. Small daisy plants are scattered in the foreground grass. The inscription "NOTGELD STADT ALTONA" appears in bold block lettering at upper left, and the denomination "75 Pfennige" is printed in large script lettering along the bottom. The printer's imprint "H.W. KÖBNER & CO. G.M.B.H." is visible in the right margin. |
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| Comments |
Altona was a Danish city until 1864, a Prussian one thereafter, and wouldn't be absorbed into Hamburg until 1937 — so when its Magistrat issued this notgeld in 1921, it was still an independent municipality navigating the same postwar coin shortage that forced hundreds of German towns to print their own small-denomination emergency money. The 75-Pfennig value is slightly unusual; most series clustered around 50 Pf and 1 Mark, and the odd denomination suggests this was part of a deliberately differentiated set rather than a simple stopgap.
H.W. Köbner & Co. GmbH printed locally within the region, and the square format — rare for notgeld, which typically ran horizontal — points to a conscious aesthetic decision by the issuing committee.