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99 Pfennig
| Issuer | Bad Honnef, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in blue-grey and red on cream paper, with a top border frieze of small overturned cups or beakers — a whimsical motif alluding to the fairy-tale inscription. A panoramic vignette of the Siebengebirge mountain range occupies the upper register, surmounted by a mural crown. The central vignette presents the coloured civic arms of Bad Honnef — a quartered shield in red, white and blue with a crenellated chief — flanked on either side by the large denomination numerals '99' and the legend 'PFENNIGE', with redemption conditions in letterpress text at lower left and right, a serial number at lower left, and two manuscript signatures at lower right above the date '1.10.1921'. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BAD HONNEF am RHEIN Löwenburg zur Ritterzeit |
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| Comments |
Bad Honnef's 99-Pfennig denomination is the kind of Notgeld curiosity that stops collectors mid-flip. The value itself was a deliberate workaround: many municipalities issued fractional emergency notes below the 1-Mark threshold specifically to avoid certain redemption obligations and postal regulations that kicked in at round denominations. Ninety-nine was the most theatrical version of this calculation.
A print run of over twelve million copies for a small Rhineland spa town is striking — demand was being met regionally, not just locally. H. Ree Harnheim's design credit is uncommon enough that the name appears in very few Notgeld designer references.