Anybody know? German Notgeld question...

Rickc300

I am wondering, did any of the states revert back to old values during the hyper inflation period? IE: Did States (or) Cities issue coinage valued in say Kreuzers, Groschens, Shillings, Thalers etc? I have a few that are not noted other than a 10, 25 or 50 but no denomination as far as value. I have no books on the subject and a Google search did not reveal any results (at least in English, the only language I truely understand) that seemed relevant other than some notgeld was made payable in commodities, such as Wheat, Rice, Beans, Beer, Coal, Firewood and other hard to come by products at the time.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Rick

TokenTinker

Austria made a conversion from a paper money standard back to silver and copper in the form of schillings and groschen in an effort to halt hyper-inflation but I'm not aware that German states, cities or towns attempted this. Considering the shortage of such metals after the war, along with reparations, the French occupation of the industrialized Ruhr Valley and their seizure of metals there it would have taken a powerful authority to concentrate scarce metals for the production of coins that possessed value inherent in their metallic content and to safeguard distribution from the excessive graft of the bureaucracy needed for the endeavor. Barter, bribery and the black market made more cents (or pfennigs - as the case may be). Other than that - I really can't say. Love to hear more about it.

JimK

I know of no German States reverting back to the old system. I believe the Mark was still the standard and was until they went to the Euro.
A lot of the Notgeld was pretty interesting looking stuff but the economy was so in shambles and money so worthless that I understand there were even instances of people using Notgeld notes as wallpaper.
HERE is an interesting writeup by the Chicago Coin Club relating to the hyperinflation period in Germany.
Jim

JCMhouston

Not as far as I am aware, although cities and states did issue tokens of various sorts during the hyperinflationary period of the Weimar Republic these were all in standard denominations.

spoon

I was thinking of all the heller stuff I'd seen.. but that's all or mostly Austrian, where it was the most recent denom.

I did, however, find this porcelain "kreuzer" from Ulm, 1922 - link

There are probably thalers from then that are remakes of old types, the NCLT type notgeld.. but I can't recall any at the moment.

TokenTinker

Bravo to Spoon!

tbirde56

I would think that the German pieces were meant to be in the standard pfennig/Mark denominations if they were actually meant for local circulation or trade. Ones in other denominations may likely have been just sold as souvenirs.
You might try these sites:
http://www.joelscoins.com/notgeld/notgeldger1.htm
http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/countries/notgeld.html
http://www.kcshop.com/notgeld/0-New-Notgeld.htm
http://www.apcpapercollect.com/
http://www.notgeld.com/
A very general catalog by Krause, A Guide and Checklist of World Notgeld 1914-47, with pictures and lists of all countries, by Coffing exists listing all types of notgeld used.
Brad

Rickc300

Hey thanks Brad, I had no idea there was that much information available! And a shout out to you too, Eric for that link to the porcelain piece. I bought a set of I think Saxon porcelain with gold gilt around the rims, about 30 years ago and sold them a few months later for gas money while in school. Sigh, I wish I had walked back then in order to still have them today...

<< <i>A very general catalog by Krause, with pictures and lists of all countries, by Coffing exists listing all types of notgeld used. >>

Now I will start looking for that catalog, I just want a general guide to the stuff I occasionally come across and maybe help in identifying rarer pieces, not that I am activlely searching for or collecting Notgeld per se but I do have a few items and would like to know a little bit more about it. Thanks again everyone for information!

Rick