Notgeld

harasha

I know technically that this is OT for this Forum, but I think that its members would be most interested.
Over thirty years ago, I used to collect notgeld, not too seriously, but I did amass quite a few specimens.
Type 2's post back on February 1 motivated me to pull out the collection and scan it.

Well, this project was more than I expected and remains unfinished. However, for those who are interested, here is the first volume.
The collection includes notgeld and what may more accurately be called Kriegsgeld.

Notgeld

Sullykerry52

Very nice. I wish I could read German. I wonder if there is a good reference book for German "notgeld"? My grandfather used to have some "notgeld" notes that he had collected while in Belgium serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in 1918.

harasha

There was some multivolume reference that was around, at the time. It was written in German. I did not find the one volume I had too useful. I cannot even locate it, though it probably is around, somewhere. Oh yeah; the binding also sucked and the volume soon fell apart.
Of greater interest was a series printed in Coin World, 1980 to 1981, at least, by a Courtney Coffing. Now that was very interesting. I think that was one of the reasons that I subscribed to Coin World at the time.

Weiss

Holy cow! Are those all yours?

Swampboy

Delightful.
There are quite a few beautifully engraved notes in your collection.

Zohar

These are quite nice and historical.

YQQ

wow, what a collection..
It is a total co-incident that on my desk right now is another of YOUR very first note, a 10 Groschen ( I believe) Austrian note, issued by the City of Linz in 1921.
Received this as part of a small coin collection I purchased.
I am totally fluent in German. But am unable to read this dialect to understand what it actually says. It is some German - Austrian dialect.
I took a picture of it, hoping some of you could read it?
thanks
H

harasha

Sorry. Ich verstehe kein Deutsch. I had to learn that for my ham radio days. I usually rely upon google translate.
The close up of the note shown simply tells me, offhand, that it was printed in Linz, for Upper Austria. Linzer torte, anyone?

The notes shown are part of my amassment from the early 80s (about 1980 to 1983). There are more, but I need to take a break from the scanning. Especially after spending half the time screaming at my cats who insisted on giving me a paw.

The historical value is particularly poignant as we commemorate the centenary of World War I.

1960NYGiants

Amazon has this:

Catalogue / checklist for Notgeld

LochNESS

I have a notgeld coin (of Westphalia) or two somewhere. Always enjoyed the design and weight. Ever thought about adding an example to your collection?

The paper currency is quite extensive and some really lovely IMO. Especially liked the one with the village scene and red banner ribbon. Very bright colors.

lordmarcovan

Wow. That's an impressive collection! If I collected paper, it would probably be these. I like these and the US Fractional Currency notes. (Colonials, too, but couldn't afford to collect those.)

I love the really colorful ones. Some of them almost look like comic book illustrations.

That one with the cruiser Emden on it is fantastic.

Yep, I could see myself being tempted astray by these.

PS- I used to have one of these Paderborn "Pooping Donkey" notes. Some of the satirical notes are pretty interesting... and often funny.

harasha

That Emden note is quite impressive, despite its worn condition. And yes, I do have one of the Westfalian notgeld coins, thanks to Zohar's sharp eye back at the January 2014 NYINC.
Here it is, again.

trozau

Here's my set of Karl Goetz designed Notgeld:

50,000,000 Marks


100,000,000 Marks


500,000,000 Marks

Zoins

Very cool pieces. Love the 1 Billion Mark Notgeld coin.

Does PCGS slab Notgeld coins?

Zoins

Originally posted by: Zoins
Very cool pieces. Love the 1 Billion Mark Notgeld coin.

Does PCGS slab Notgeld coins?

Apparently, yes as I just ran across the following. This seems like it could be a very cool collection.

WillieBoyd2

These are my favorite notgeld notes with African themes:

These notes honor German African Explorers.
Paper, 4-1/8 x 3 inches (10.4 x 7.4 cm)

Berlin Notgeld, 75 pfennigs, 1921, General von Lettow-Vorbeck
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck was a German general.
He was the commander of the German East Africa campaign in World War I.


Notgeld Berlin von Lettow-Vorbeck Portrait


Notgeld Berlin von Lettow-Vorbeck Map

Another Berlin Notgeld, 75 pfennigs, 1921, von Wissmann:
Hermann von Wissmann was a German African explorer.


Notgeld Berlin Wissmann Portrait


Notgeld Berlin Wissmann Map

The text:
TOGO / KAMERUN / DEUTSCH-SÜDWEST DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKA / 1884-1918
Gedenkt unserer kolonien
Deutsch-Hanseatischer Kolonial Gedenktag - Hamburg Berlin Bremen
Dieser Kolonial Gutschein verliert mit dem 31 März 1922 seine Gultigkeit.
Die Geschäftsführung

TOGO / CAMEROON / GERMAN SOUTHWEST AFRICA / GERMAN EAST AFRICA / 1884-1918
Remember our colonies
German-Hanseatic Colonial Memorial Day - Hamburg Berlin Bremen
This colonial credit note loses its value on 31 March 1922.
The management

pmac

Thanks for bringing up the subject. Could you give us that do not know, a brief history of notgeld? I think it's tied in with the hyperinflation that hit Germany shortly after WWI. I have a porcelain 1m 1922 Grunberg. I bought it because I thought it was interesting. Making this personal, is there much to be said about this "coin"?

Zoins

As a big fan of coins on currency, I was pleased to find this as well:

jdmern

I could write all day on Notgeld...

I will let others far more knowledgeable on the topic speak to the history of paper notgeld, but as far as metal and porcelain Notgeld, here it goes...

First off, Notgeld or Notmünzen, is best translated as 'Emergency Money'...

During the WWI period, like with many nations in wartime, there were issues with hoarding of Federal Coinage (see German Empire 1/2 Marks being blackened to prevent hoarding), as well as all of the other issues with the reliability of the centralized government...

This lead to towns and cities issuing their own token currency, the ones issued by towns and cities are referred to as the Municipal issues. There were towns such as Eggenfelden issuing metal Notgeld as early as 1916.

Due to wartime scarcity, most of these pieces were issued in the most available materials at the time, generally zinc and iron, both obviously highly reactive materials. This is one of the reasons for the relative scarcity of many of the pieces nowadays...

In addition to the Municipal issues, many private Merchants and large employers issued their own pieces. These are referred to as 'Private issue Notgeld', and are in my opinion, some of the more interesting pieces. Many large factories paid their employees with such pieces, some with quite beautiful designs. Many of these were minted by the firm Lauer, who many of you may be aware of due to their long production of Jetons, rechenpfennigs and spielmunzen...

Following WWI and the disastrous (for Germany) Treaty of Versailles and the beginning of the Weimar German period, these pieces kept being issued (The cutoff for municipal is generally the hyperinflation pieces of Westphalia, 1923 but I will get to that later)... Overall, there were over 600 municipalities which issued metal Notgeld during this period...

The hyperinflation pieces are a bit controversial, as most of the other municipal pieces were truly currency of necessity, while some of the absurdly highly denominated pieces (like the very scarce 1 billion Westphalia mark posted earlier this thread) are thought to have been issued more of as Medals...

While zinc and Iron were the most common compositions, there were a good number of aluminum pieces, some gilt bronze, and bronze municipal pieces. There are also the encased postage issues, and the legendary compressed coal dust issues. (As a brief aside, the compressed coal dust issues are my favorite pieces I have handled. Do a quick google search for 'Rothenbach Coal Dust Notgeld')

The porcelain issues were again, mostly issued as Medals and few actually circulated as currency. Saxony had an abundant amount of porcelain Notgeld issues, and some other places had some pretty neat ones also. Boldixum has a neat series depicting fish. There were also many Meissen porcelain medals issued during this period that are quite beautiful, and are many time described as 'Notgeld Medals', but in reality, as they are non denominated, are really just medals.

Sorry for the longish post, I do not post all that often, but I do read on here fairly regularly, and Notgeld is (currently) my favorite area in numismatics!

Zoins

Great info jdmern! Please post more

pmac

Thanks, jdmern, for the very interesting post. It's amazing what people will come up with in times that their government has its hands tied.

element159

Originally posted by: jdmern

There are the legendary compressed coal dust issues. (As a brief aside, the compressed coal dust issues are my favorite pieces I have handled. Do a quick google search for 'Rothenbach Coal Dust Notgeld')

I am fascinated by these coal pieces, I had not heard of them. I collect the chemical elements, so I like to get them in coins, and I had no idea that a carbon coin existed.



Thanks for posting that!