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Hi everyone – I am currently working on a ‘notgeld calendar’ project for the website. Please bear with me while I get the basics in place and then over the following months/years try to get each date covered off with a notgeld issued on that date – thanks in advance
The basic structure is now live and you will see at least one notgeld depicted for each month. As time goes on, hopefully more and more notgeld will get linked. I’ve done 14 out of the 365 dates, so a long way to go!
Does anyone have a picture they can send me please of the 6 pieces from very colourful Geldern (Serie C – Neumann / Hegar) set? I only have/ had 4 of the pieces so the new article, just published, only show 4 of the 6 notes. Thanks in advance…….
I have been adding a few more items to the shop, so please do keep aneye on that. Also, I have just added a new article about the wonderful purple coloured note from Patschkau.
Keep happy and keep collecting!
I have just added the very interesting verkehrsausgaben notgeld piece, issued in Niederlahnstein and dated 1917……to the notgeld website shop. It has a very interesting story and graphic behind it.
if you don’t already have it in your collection, I would suggest that it is a very good addition to have.‘REVALUED GEMS – Volume 2 (L – Z)’ has now been published and is avalable to purchase from the ‘My Books’ section on the homepage.
There is a link that will direct you to all my books in ‘LuLu’ the online ‘print on demand’ printer and publisher. Thanks in advance for any purchases you make.
At the bottom of my list of notgeld printing companies, is a further list of locations that issued notged printed by ‘Gebr. Jaenecke, Hannover‘.
Please let me know if you come across any I have missed and I will of course add them in. I guess it will just be a matter of stumbling upon them or going through your collections / scan folders, to find them all.
Thanks in advance…….
As the info in the printer list is populated that list starts to become more clear. I have worked through just under 50% of what I aim to do now. I will continue over the next few weeks to build thej core listing and then add to it as and when……….
Today, I am very slowly starting to create a list of notgeld printers. I have just uploaded an ‘Intro’ and then the start of a basic list. Please don’t contact me as yet as I obviously need to populate the list. Once it gets to about 100, I think it will then be worth any further suggestions. I am trying to clarify the situation with notgeld printers and the ‘non-Reichsdruckerei’ banknote printers.
https://notgeld.com/gncc-notgeld-articles/elmshorn-story-of-money/
(As I am adding specific info to the website, I have had to make some small amendments so that all the options still appear when the list dropdowns are expanded.)
Hi Peter,
the note is from Elmshorn; Tony has provided images of the whole set, front and back; from the Home page, navigate to Categories > Serienscheine > Specific Towns > (towns) A-L > C-E > * Elmshorn. My translations for the entire set are also there.
The reverse of the 75-Pfennig note you have translates as : The recent war put us under pressure, it ate up all our gold and silver.- But pressure causes pushback – People will have to help themselves the best they can. We’re pushing back with the power of the printing press!
I’ve had to translate a little more freely and a little less tightly than I’d like, because the German relies on the related verbs drucken (“print”) and drücken (“press” / “push” / “apply pressure to”) and their common noun Druck (“printing” or “pressure”). In English, the translation changes according to the context. In German it’s a linguistic riff on the two senses of the words. The last line has the sense of “pushing back” and “printing back” [in reply].
The wider context of the series is that it’s a “History of Money”, with a wide historical but also ethnographic sweep of currencies and things of value, from the cows of the ancient Germans to the huge money stones of the island of Yap. Your 75-Pfennig note represents a satirical complaint against the war-driven replacement of gold and silver with the spiralling issue of a plethora of paper money notes. A perplexed bourgeois couple at the top of the note are swamped by the sheer volume of paper money, as indeed is the traditional guardian of gold and treasure, the dragon, at the bottom : it’s as though Bilbo meets Smaug on a pile of inflationary banknotes (although this predates The Hobbit, it has the same, and older, horde-guarding dragon motif).
Hope that this helps!
Best wishes and happy collecting!
Can anyone tell me anything about this one, please? Where is it from…what does it say/what is the story?
I’ve been told that it has the snow scene on the other side, and is from Friedrichsbrunn, but the font is so dissimilar, that doesn’t seem right to me.Thanks for any help!
‘REVALUED GEMS (Volume 1)’ has just been published for anyone who is interested. John and Marcel helped me get this project off the ground and to its completion. It contains ALL the revalued / overprinted serienscheine pieces AND other grossgeld and inflationary notgeld pieces A – K.
I hope the collectors like it.
Hi David!
I have now got hold of a copy and am about half way through it. Yes, quite hard going in places but very good ofr understanding of the time and situation and the causes of all the monetary problems, including of course the hyper-inflation.
Hello –
I thought that I would recommend a book I just read called When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson. This book deals with the 1919-1924 German Post WWI Hyperinflation and touches on Austria and Hungary as well.
While it talks about notgeld, this book is NOT a notgeld book. Rather, it is an inciteful work that talks about some of the harsh realities of the era and a lot of the reasons for it. I’ll admit, some of it is dry, especially when dealing with the pure financial aspects of governmental administrative actions, but overall I found it to be quite interesting and a worthwhile read, giving a small glimpse into the era and its impact that notgeld was a necessary part of.
Hi Tony, what a lovely note. It would probably be classed as a Spendenschein as it give thanks for the Spende (donation) of 5 Kronen to assist the work of Perchtoldsdorf’s Healthcare at Home organisation (Hauskrankenpflege).
It seems to show Christ at the healing / restoring to life of Jairus’ daughter, and the verse is entirely Christian in tone and content.
I’ve translated it as accurately as possible while retaining the sense of verse :
A star has arisen
In a blue-tinged night
It has brought wholeness
To all those who live in fear
Caused by suffering.Its eye blinks sweetly
At the sick and the weary
And gives peace and consolation :
O Lord, you are love indeed.And if from out of this heart
A sun ray lights up yours,
Then you will feel another’s pain
And weep with them who weep.
Then light shall fall upon you,
To see, in pain’s dark night,
The star under which we live :
God. – Charity.- The pow’r of love.I just received this Austrian notgeld for 5 Kronen, issued in Perchtoldsdorf. It is described as a ‘Schatzschein’ (Treasury note). You don’t see it that often so I thought I should post it here. if the verse on the top of the obverse is interesting, can someone translate it please? – No rush!!…..
‘Kriegsgeld’ – war money – so it would cover or be a description used on some pieces that should all date between 1914 – 1918……….BUT they don’t!!
For me, I think it was a term mainly used on verkehrsausgaben issues dating from 1917-1920…….??
addendum to last. I did try a brief search of Tony’s site here, but if a description rather than examples for sale is present, I missed it….
Kreigsgeld:
Is there much of a description I can work with beyond ‘Emergency War Money’?
Jack
Hope everyone is fine and OK.
Can anyone supply me with coloured pictures of the following serienscheine revalued (OVP) pieces please?? :
Elberfeld, Lauterberg (Bad), Lingen, Marienburg, Meppen, Neidenberg, Rees, Triebes & Winterberg – Thanks in advance!!
When I have pictures, I will be able to complete the related article.
When you are checking through your duplicates, make sure you check carefully for the slight differences that might not be easily spotted.
Here are 2 variant pieces from Oberndorf. The top (darker) piece is from the original print run of 20000, so the serial number is below ‘20000’. The lighter variant is from a subsequent run or new run (‘Nachdrucke’) so its serial number is greater than 20000:
Hi Jack! Yes, John is well but extremely busy. You just have to be very patient with your requests. If anyone posts here and doesn’t receive a reply within 2 weeks, please just email me.
There are a lot of ‘silent’ members here who prefer just to watch and read – every collector is different and lifestyles will be different too. Some of our members are retired but some not so lucky!…….yet!!
Has anybody ‘heard’ from John in the last few months. According to his profile, he has not been on for a while.
Put another note
Ello all,
I put another note up on the identification thread. Take a look and see if you can help me with a couple of the words in the translation.
thanks,
Jack
Hi everyone! – hope the collecting is going well – I have just published my latest notgeld article on the rare 3m ‘No-Bi-Ba-Bu’ piece from Detmold. The information was supplied to me by GNCC member, John. It is a very interesting and appealing note. Anyone interested in purchasing this note, please email me.
When you are looking through your notgeld, please do check the topic articles as I am still looking for any pieces not mentioned already that have graphics with ‘Saints’, ‘Maps’, ‘Iron Cross’, Pigs’ etc. etc.
Does anyone know of any other German serienscheine that have been stamped ‘eingeloest’ please? (redeemed). It doesn’t really make much sense in terms of serienscheine in my mind??
There are sets of serienscheine pieces that have been issued in different sizes……..Hasloh & Kurzenmoor, for example but I think it is unusual for the 2 verkehrsausgaben you mention. There is always something a bit ‘unusual’!!
I have been adding artist names to the article and just found the signature & inter-twinned initials ‘GS’ for Georg Schleinitz, on serienscheine from Herne
Thanks for the reply, Marcel! I did notice the lo ger serial number, but I was surprised to find it so much smaller. I appreciate you looking in your catalog to confirm it as a variety. More for us to collect!
Hi David,
You surprised me too! It looks like a Serienschein, but nothing in my collection. I have the very nice catalog by Tieste; “”Katalog Kleingeldersatz aus Papier “Verkehrsausgaben”, 1915 – 1922″” (two volumes). There it was: Sonneberg (#6985 .15 and .20). The two notes have the same date, but Tieste says: the smaller note has a “format change”. The smaller note is the second issuance. You can see that the serial number are 6 digits (the larger note 5 digits) and the value in the catalog is: Euro 6 for the larger note and Euro 3 for the smaller. This points out that the smaller note has a larger printrun. And I think the small note reduced the costs (less paper, less ink …..)
Every note has his own story!
Hallo!
I like to collect different themes of notgeld, and a favorite is Christmas themed Seriencheine. Two of the notes I have is from Sonneberg and depict a nice nutcracker. The first not I had was a ‘normal’ sized notgeld, but I just received one that is a much smaller size, as you can see in the attached photo. The size is not too odd as this series has some that are about the same size, but of different designs.
As I have only these two notes, I was wondering if anyone knew if one of these is a variant or was there a printing error? I have not seen such a case of a size difference variant before, but then I am far from any expert in Notgeld – or much else! As such I do not know much about printing methods, but I would imagine it would be difficult to have reduced the image size in a printing press from the 1920’s, would it not?
Anyone know more? Does anyone have this note, and if so, is yours a ‘normal’ size (86mm x 57mm) or smaller (57mm x 37mm)?
Here is something that hopefully, every member can help me with please. I have added more than 100 notgeld artists to that specific article (under serienscheine/people/notgeld artists). Could you all take a look please ……..and for now, send any artist name that isn’t on the list that you can find AT LEAST 2 different sets or pieces of please. Thanks in advance. This will be a long project but some of the initials and unknown names may eventually come to light.
Please don’t bombard me with lots and lots of names…..there must be at least another hundred out there……..no rush here……1 every now and again is best for me please!! The notgeld issue (series or piece) can just be named with Lindman number or Grabowski number please and I can get back to you if I need a scan. Hope that makes it easy for everyone to get involved here.
This overprinted (OVP) note arrived here today. It has one of the best raised stamp marks I have ever seen. The overprints are some of the most interesting types you can collect. Originally issued with a face value of 5 marks, it has been re-valued/overprinted to 10,000,000,000 mark!
Very interesting. The world is an ever changing place. Great to see history depicted on the notgeld and explanations about them.
LILIENTHAL, 25 Pfennig serie H
Lilienthal became the centre of astronomy. First observatorium was built in 1785 by Johann(es) Hieronymus Schroeter. His second in 1793 (see the photo below). Many discoveries were made here.
See my article below about Borgfelder Landhaus that was demolished . This article as counterweight for the reconstruction of the observatorium.
For more information see: https://www.telescopium-lilienthal.de (use Google translate for the translation).
LILIENTHAL, 25 Pfennig serie H
Johann(es) Hieronymus Schroeter, the builder of the telescope and his compagnions Karl Ludwig Harding and Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel.
Lilienthal, reconstruction of the Schroeter 27 Ft telescope observatorium in 2000
BREMEN, Borgfelder Landhaus
In april 2023 a landmark is demolished in the Serienscheine landscape. It makes place for a building for refugees. The old Borgfelder Landhaus has a history that goes back to the 17th century as a beer bar. In the 19th century it was a customs office. In the 20th century it was famous as a stage for legendary performances of the Bremen beat music scene. Before the turn of the millennium the Borgfelder Landhaus started a brewery with Borgfelder Ürtrub and Lilienthaler Dunkel.
The also traditional restaurant lay on the river Wümme on the border of Borgfeld (Bremen) and Lilienthal (Lower Saxony).
Translation text (in low German) backside: “If the rooster crows in the mist, than the weather changes, or it stays as it is.” and “Owner Hans Kolloge”
There are 2 new articles for you to browse (see homepage) – Schoetmar ‘newly discovered’ note and 2 overprinted pieces from Ludwigshafen BASF.
I have also added another lovely ‘saint’ note to the’saints on notgeld’ specific article. There must be more notgeld with saints on out there, so if you stumble across any not mentioned, please do let me know.
I just stumbled upon this fairly common piece which has a pyramid on it. Do you know of any others?
FYI – I have just published my latest notgeld book, ‘VARIANT GEMS’ on the LuLu (online publisher and printer site) website.
Link can be found from the homepage ‘My Books’ section at the top. Just over 600 pages, it details lots of variants to be a ware of and will hopefully teach a lot of collectors the types of things they need to be looking at and comparing. It was a learning curve for me too – there were several design differences that I was totally unaware of before embarking on this project. The variants are catalogued but some are quite difficult to understand, especially if you don’t speak German. I hope my GNCC collector colleagues find the publication helpful and thought provoking. I never properly realised what a beautiful piece the 20pf note is from Stuetzerbach, drawn/designed by Max Bechstein. (I’ve been adding a few different artists to the ‘artists’ post, recently, which is why this note is on my mind.) Bechstein was not a professional artist but was the city architect for Ilmenau.
Hi Marcel!
Hadersdorf – I had the brown 20h and it has just sold. A very unusual paper!!I’ll update my Gera article with your assistance please – nice scans!!
GERA
Remark on the identical but different serail numbers: The serie with capital A has two print runs. The first has 4 digits and the second has 5 digits. But, it is remarkable that the two runs with the same serial numbers found each other!!
GERA (See also for the article by Tony on the homepage)
With a stamp on the second serie without serial number and capital A. Please notice the two 75 Pfennig notes who are on the blue 1 Mark and on the red 2 Mark note printed. No inflation at that moment!
(my own collection)
GERA (See also for the article by Tony)
Two wrappings for the two series of Gera. The black printed wrapping for serie one and the blue printing for the second serie (with capital A). On the backsite the explanation of the four notes.
(my own collection)
Hadersdorf am Kamp (Austria) on special paper
Three notes from Hadersdorf am Kamp on vertically corrugated cardboard paper, feels like crepe paper. Also horizontally.
(my own collection)
Thanks Jack. I see that John has now replied to your post. You have chosen the right topic/area – great. Queries may take a day or 2 to be picked up, worked on and then posted back on the forum.
I am sure we will all learn something with these translation types of queries.
A good area to keep our eyes on………. always nice to learn.Thanks John
May 2023 News article has just been published – Happy Collecting to everyone. Let us all know of anything ‘special’ you get in or anything you might want to know a little more about please. I am sure someone here will be able to assist you.
FYI – My aim is to write about Nate’s excellent serienscheine book in the upcoming ‘latest news’ article for May and I will also be pushing any new GNCC member that joins our club, to get a copy from Nate!
It is an excellent ‘must have’ addition for one’s notgeld library and as John has said, so, so useful for non-speaking German collectors like me!
Hi Nate, just to let you and all and sundry know that I’ve just received my copy of your book. I said in my last post that it looks amazing, and now that I’ve got a copy I can truly say that it IS amazing!! The level of illustration and detail is awe-inspiring, the concordance of Lindman and G/M at a glance is super-helpful, the translation of so much down to the names for the watermarks is an added level of interest and essential for non-German speakers who are saved hours of dictionary work. Thanks too for the kind mention in the acknowledgements :)! Too kind! And not to forget : the presentation and quality of the binding and paper and the size and the layout all make this gorgeous publication a very attractive must-have. Many congratulations on such a fantastic feat!
There are some very interesting pieces shown here which are thought provoking.
I guess we need to get similar pieces and compare them. I have an album full of ‘muster’/specimen pieces I have been collecting over the years. If there were ‘unissued’ pieces that were then cancelled, they would look exactly like specimen pieces – no serials and a cancelleation. Hopefully that would have been written about though in the local newspaper and to date, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Kai Lindman verified the majority of my pieces through the years as genuine so I’m happy for that. My Wernigerode piece………now I can’t check with him of course! I’m dubious but it was in a group of other ‘normal’ pieces…..
I hadn’t seen your pieces before but they are sure to be ‘copied’ in the future – too easy to add a punch hole to any ‘common’ notgeld piece. A stamp mark should be a bit easier to check (type and ink etc.?)
The Neustadt stamp mark looks ‘wonky’ to my eye…..not 100% straight, so it could be a made up stamp??
It is always a bit “dangerous” to buy notes with a stamp or a perforation. Are they genuine or put someone a stamp on it or made a hole to make them more interesting? Even when they are mentioned in the catalogs.
Just bought a note from Neustadt/Orla with a stamp “Ungültig !” from a respected dealer. This note is not mentioned in the catalogs. I trust the seller, but who says it is genuine!
Never seen the perforation in the 25 Pf Wernigerode or in the catalogs. (The other notes are in my collection.)
But see the pictures of Apolda: They are known with one or two perforations and accompanied with or without a stamp “ungültig MUSTER”. I have some in my collection.
This should be the lastest post – just checking.
There are posts that have been approved and appear below…………… you just have to scroll down a bit to find Nate’s and John’s post (colourful catalogue picture) which were posted on 11th April at 8.08 pm. Hopefully as new posts get added it will sort out OK.
Hi everyone – there has been a big bug with the forum posts, but I think we have sorted it now. You should all be able to post as usual with no more approvals needed for doing it. We have to accept the software as it is but I think it is OK now.
There are posts that have been approved and appear below…………… you just have to scroll down a bit to find Nate’s and John’s post (colourful catalogue picture) which were posted on 11th April at 8.08 pm. Hopefully as new posts get added it will sort out OK.
Nate – your new serienscheine book looks fantastic!!
Picked up a new set from Bueckeburg recently that I’ve been wanting to find for a long while. Prior to obtaining them, I hadn’t seen any clear images of the 3 notes together, so I didn’t fully realize the design differences and how they progress from black and white to full color as the denominations increase, which I thought was really cool. Here are some scans:
I have a recent finding to share, along with a project I’ve been working on.
The scan shown here is from the May 1995 issue of The Fraktur newsletter. It covers some information about the coal notgeld pieces, as well as information about a lead pattern I was previously unaware of. As some of you are probably aware, The Fraktur was a monthly English language newsletter that ran from 1988 – 2000. I recently had the privilege of digitizing the entire run 12.5 year run of The Fraktur, and I’ve uploaded it to a new site I’ve been working on to host interesting documents and information about Notgeld — notgeld.wiki
Also on the site is a great archive of another English language Notgeld publication called Notgeld Newsletter. This publication started in the early 1970’s and only has 16 issues, but also features many really great supplemental materials covering a wide range of topics like astronomy on notgeld, scatological notgeld, medical themed notgeld, and more!
Hi Randolph, and welcome to you! I myself actually started collecting a good number of years ago with notes of the Hyperinflation that would turn up on bric-a-brac stands in Germany, and although my interests have widened considerably since, I still enjoy inflation notes and have about 400 of them from 1922-1923 as a sub-section of the collection. I usually look for a note with a peculiarity or an interesting story or background.
Here’s a sample, an unusual 1,000,000 Mark note issued by the Hordeaux-Bergmann Aktien-Ges. für Korbwaren-u. Kinderwagen-Industrie and Hordeaux-Bing G.m.b.H. and printed on paper taken from or intended for a catalogue for basketware, one of their products (see reverse side of note).
I was a little puzzled that there were signatories for two firms, so I did a bit of research and found out the following nuggets : in 1890 the Frenchman Amédée Hourdeaux turned his firm into the AG für Korbwarenindustrie vormals Amédée Hourdeaux with the assistance of the Bank of Thuringia in Meiningen and some Dresden bankers, the Arnhold Brothers.  In 1908 the company acquired the Kinderwagen- und Holzwarenfabrik GmbH in Wasungen and in 1909 merged with its competitor Bergman & Co. in Hirschaid and Lichtenfels. The company produced perambulators; dolls’ prams; bassinets; wooden products such as children’s chairs, doll’s sports cars, sledges; basketware; and, woven and upholstered furniture. They formed a syndicate with the Bing-Werke AG in Nuremberg in 1921, hence the note being signed on behalf of both company and syndicate. Eventually the syndicate merged and the resulting company survived until 1978.
Happy collecting! May you always find the pieces you’re looking for and the ones you didn’t know you were looking for!
Hello, all! My name is Nate. I’m new to the GNCC and the forum, but I’ve been collecting notgeld for about 10 years now. Someone earlier in this thread mentioned the March 2021 Numismatist article about Reutergeld, so I took some screenshots of the article that you can find here: https://imgur.com/a/oDOmMIo
So, sorting my heaps of notgeld, I come across this set. Thought I really had it made. Here is the sales page from Tieste:
How wonderful, I thought. Out of curiosity, I wondered what the several-year-old Lindman catalog had it listed for. Then: “DOOM”. Lindman had a small notation that overprinted issues were NOT Serienschiene. So of course, all of mine had the overprint. All had the same overprint. One sample here
:
So disappointed. But…life goes on.
Anyway, this made me think: What exactly defines notes as Serienschiene? Did the various towns just hand them out or sell tlhem? And what could you do with them? Bread costing thousands or millions of Mark, what could you buy for 50 pennies or so?
Hi Tony, there’s only one other cycling note I can think of offhand.
It’s the 1 Million Mark note of 24th August 1923, issued by the Elitewerke Ltd., a German car manufacturer based in Brand-Erbisdorf from 1913 – 1929, but more specifically by the part of the company known as the Diamantenwerke in Siegmar. Elite merged with Diamant, a bicycle manufacturer, in 1920.
On the obverse, the note shows in silhouette three cyclists on racing bikes with drop handlebars moving down a country lane.
On the reverse, the note shows in photographic clarity a head shot of one Richard Huschke, “the most successful Diamant rider”. Huschke (born 6th August 1893 in Berlin, died 11th January 1980 in Calw, or Stuttgart) was a professional racer who rode with the Continental team in the 1912, 1913 and 1914 seasons, and for the Diamant team in 1927.  His career spanned 1911-1929 and from 1913 to 1928 he competed, sometimes repeatedly, in the following major races : Berlin – Cottbus – Berlin; Zurich Championship; Germany Tour; Giro della Provincia di Milano; Il Lombardia; the Berlin Tour; and the Cologne Tour. Known as “King Richard”, he was – together with his brother Adolf – one of the most successful German cyclists. He was German champion in 1922 and 1925.
Hi Tony, there’s only one other cycling note I can think of offhand.
It’s the 1 Million Mark note of 24th August 1923, issued by the Elitewerke Ltd., a German car manufacturer based in Brand-Erbisdorf from 1913 – 1929, but more specifically by the part of the company known as the Diamantenwerke in Siegmar. Elite merged with Diamant, a bicycle manufacturer, in 1920.
On the obverse, the note shows in silhouette three cyclists on racing bikes with drop handlebars moving down a country lane.
On the reverse, the note shows in photographic clarity a head shot of one Richard Huschke, “the most successful Diamant rider”. Huschke (born 6th August 1893 in Berlin, died 11th January 1980 in Stuttgart) was a professional racer who rode with the Continental team in the 1912, 1913 and 1914 seasons, and for the Diamant team in 1927.  His career spanned 1911-1929 and from 1913 to 1928 he competed in the following major races : Berlin – Cottbus – Berlin; Zurich Championship; Germany Tour; Giro della Provincia di Milano; Il Lombardia; the Berlin Tour; and the Cologne Tour. Known as “King Richard”, he was – together with his brother Adolf – one of the most successful German cyclists. He was German champion in 1922 and 1925. Â
Hi Graham, I’ve often maintained that the most useful new coin to introduce would be the 99p coin, which would save all the mountains of pennies I’ve gathered over the years and make for more honest and transparent transactions! As far as Notgeld goes, a couple of odd values spring to mind. Firstly the 700 Mark notes from Ujest (today Ujazd in Poland), which were issued to celebrate the town’s 700th anniversary; secondly, the 1,60 Mark note from the Brunswick Motor Traffic Company Ltd. (Kraftverkehrsgesellschaft m. b. H. Braunschweig), catalogued as Lindman 148a and Grabowski / Mehl 156.1. As the latter was issued by an omnibus company with the otherise normal values of 25 Pf. and 75 Pf. , I wonder whether the 1,60 Mark represents the value of a fare? The notes are also overprinted as 0,50 Mark (Lindman 148b, G/M 156.4).
This is pretty funny. I had never heard of this of Bielefeld conspiracy but there is a whole wikipedia article on it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_conspiracy
The US equivalent is that Wyoming doesn’t exist, but that’s my home state so I’m more suspicious Bielefeld does not exist.
My latest asset. It is an uncut sheet of 9 notes of the place Bochum. The three notes are a part of a larger serie of 7 notes. It represents coilmining. Bochum is a part of the Ruhr-area, a very large industrial-site of mining and stealmanufactoring. It consist of 3 times the same notes with a value of 75 Pf and twice 1 Mk. The notes are printed with serialnumbers (notice the “random” numbers!). I do not know why the sheet is not cut, may be there is a defect or a flow. I like the serie because it is in black and white (like the black coal and dressed white (!) miners. The only colors are the red of the value and the green of the KN. I think the artist is F.A. Gimmerthal out of Langendreer (a district of Bochum).
Here is an interesting scan from the May 1995 issue of The Fraktur regarding the coal notgeld pieces. I was unaware of these lead patterns previously.
I’ve recently digitized the entire 12.5 year run of The Fraktur publication, which you can find here: notgeld.wiki
Hi Graham, I’ve often maintained that the most useful new coin to introduce would be the 99p coin, which would save all the mountains of pennies I’ve gathered over the years, and make for more honest and transparent transactions! As far as Notgeld goes, a couple of odd values spring to mind. Firstly the 700 Mark notes from Ujest (today Ujazd in Poland), which were issued to celebrate the town’s 700th anniversary; secondly, the 1,60 Mark note from the Brunswick Motor Traffic Company Ltd. (Kraftverkehrsgesellschaft m. b. H. Braunschweig), catalogued as Lindman 148a and Grabowski / Mehl 156.1. As the latter was issued by an omnibus company alongside the otherwise normal values of 25 Pf. and 75 Pf., I wonder whether the 1,60 Mark represents the value of a fare? The notes are also issued overprinted as 0,50 Mark (Lindman 148b, G/M 156.4).
Hi Randolph, and a very big welcome to you! I actually started my collection many years ago with notes from the Hyperinflation that I found on bric-a-brac stands in Germany and since then have moved on to other notes of the period and beyond. I just had a count-up, and have about 400 inflation notes from 1922-1923 as a part of the overall collection. I tend to be drawn to the ones where there is some peculiarity or an interesting story or background.
Here’s a sample, an unusual 1,000,000 Mark note issued by the Hordeaux-Bergmann Aktien-Ges. für Korbwaren-u. Kinderwagen-Industrie, printed on paper taken from or intended for a catalogue for basketware, one of the firm’s products (see reverse).
I did a little research into the company’s history and came up with the following information : in 1890 the Frenchman Amédée Hourdeaux turned his firm into the AG für Korbwarenindustrie vormals Amédée Hourdeaux with the assistance of the Bank of Thuringia in Meiningen and some Dresden bankers, the Arnhold Brothers.  In 1908 the company acquired the Kinderwagen- und Holzwarenfabrik GmbH in Wasungen and in 1909 merged with its competitor Bergman & Co. in Hirschaid and Lichtenfels. The company produced perambulators, dolls’ prams and bassinets, wooden products such as children’s chairs, doll’s sports cars, sledges, basketware, woven and upholstered furniture. They formed a syndicate with the Bing-Werke AG in Nuremberg in 1921, hence the note being signed on behalf of both company and syndicate. Eventually the syndicate merged and the resulting company survived until 1978.
Happy collecting! May you always find the ones you’re looking for and the ones you didn’t know you were looking for!
Altrahlstedt are masters in recycling there notes. These three are the third edition with a overprint. One note with 20.000.000 Mk I do not have in my (photo-) collection. The hyper-inflation overprints are on the notes with the first and second overprint.
 
An addition to the latest book by Tony. A very rare serie of the place Röhrigshöfe a. Werra (Gr. 1132 and Li. 1102) with (E175,- a piece) and without (E200,- a piece) serial-numbers. They are comical notes, the order is a bit strange. The 25 Pf serie is numbered: A-B-E-F-G and 75 Pf: C-D-H-I-K. I think they are in pairs, but I can not see the combination (think A-B, C-D,…….). The artist is G. Hoffmann and designed the other serie of Röhrigshöfe too. Which Hoffmann is a riddle: Georg (graphic artist)is a candidate, but he was born in 1891 I think he is too young. The other Georg (maler) was born after 1860 (sic) and died 1936/1937 (sic), but I can not find drawings of him. I think it is a local artist, but what his first name is and his other work? One note of the other serie is used on the cover of a book abut the history of the town.
A few years ago I was on holiday in this region of Germany. I drove through Röhrigshöfe. I saw a few houses, the river Werra, but the most striking things were enormous mountains of kali (see Google-maps). That was all. So, in the 1920’s it was the same: salt, bridge, mill and pub. I can not find an other issue of this place in all the other Notgeld-catalogs.
I like the two series. They are with humor and made in a nice loose style. The “unknown” artist is not forgotten, he lives on upon the Serienscheine, seen by all the Notgeld-collectors. And the town (now known as Röhrigshof); worldfamous by this sky-high saltmountains (Monte Kali)!
I upload this regarding the matter of favourites, but also for the Luther-afficionados
Work of Alfred Hanf, noted Erfurt-artist from the expressionist movement. If you want to see more, check Erfurt Luther-series, Genthin, Genthin Bismarck-series, Gebesee, Sömmerda and Weissensee. Complementary info is very welcome of course!
Tony might add it to the Luther-article
So, sorting my heaps of notgeld, I come across this set. Thought I really had it made. Here is the sales page from Tieste:
How wonderful, I thought. Out of curiosity, I wondered what the several-year-old Lindman catalog had it listed for. Then: “DOOM”. Lindman had a small notation that overprinted issues were NOT Serienschiene. So of course, all of mine had the overprint. All had the same overprint. One sample here :
So disappointed. But…life goes on.
Anyway, this made me think: What exactly defines notes as Serienschiene? Did the various towns just hand them out or sell them? …..and what could you do with them? Bread costing thousands or millions of Mark, what could you buy for 50 pennies or so?
Hi John, my cataloguing system has undergone all kinds of transformations since I first started collecting until it organically reached its current form. I basically have a chronological run of albums from 1870-1918; then albums for Verkehrsausgaben; then albums for inflationary notes; then Wertbestaendiges Notgeld and post-Inflation Weimar, then 1933-45; then 1945-2002. Outside of that I have albums for Serienscheine, divided into German states – Prussia is subdivided into its provinces and Thuringia into its original constituent states. Oh, and the albums of Austrian Notgeld, subdivided into the Austrian states. I use both Grabowski / Mehl and Lindmann for my Serienscheine and appropriate published catalogues for the others. I also have Ubercatalogues and Untercatalogues showing the whole collection alphabetically, or according to states but with wish lists interspersed, individual album catalogues, a catalogue of all the catalogues (!) and an overview I have laminated on my wall. I’d say I should get out more but in current lockdown circumstances that isn’t an option. Happy cataloguing, however you go about it! Attached some examples of the Serienscheine catalogue subdivded by state, with some ideas for database fields i.e. state, town, issuer :
Altrahlstedt is a vey nice example of recycling his Notgeld. Tony mentioned the two overprints, but there are three! they are reissued in 16-8-1923 as hyper-inflation notes with 100.000 Mark to 20.000.000 Mark. See below two notes:
So, sorting my heaps of notgeld, I come across this set. Thought I really had it made. Here is the sales page from Tieste:
How wonderful, I thought. Out of curiosity, I wondered what the several-year-old Lindman catalog had it listed for. Then: “DOOM”. Lindman had a small notation that overprinted issues were NOT Serienschiene. So of course, all of mine had the overprint. All had the same overprint. One sample here :
So disappointed. But…life goes on.
Anyway, this made me think: What exactly defines notes as Serienschiene? Did the various towns just hand them out or sell tlhem? And what could you do with them? Bread costing thousands or millions of Mark, what could you buy for 50 pennies or so?
So, sorting my heaps of notgeld, I come across this set. Thought I really had it made. Here is the sales page from Tieste:
How wonderful, I thought. Out of curiosity, I wondered what the several-year-old Lindman catalog had it listed for. Then: “DOOM”. Lindman had a small notation that overprinted issues were NOT Serienschiene. So of course, all of mine had the overprint. All had the same overprint. One sample here
So disappointed. But…life goes on.
Anyway, this made me think: What exactly defines notes as Serienschiene? Did the various towns just hand them out or sell tlhem? And what could you do with them? Bread costing thousands or millions of Mark, what could you buy for 50 pennies or so?
This is meant to be a reply, but I cannot find the post I want to reply to, sorry. Question was: Which is your favorite piece. So far, this Gronau piece is my favorite. Why? Because it seems to embody the entire dismal situation that Germany was in at the time.
Some items related to spinning are shown, but the primary thrust of the piece is the current situation.
This is not an exact translation, but rather my interpretation:
The one side says that even though the value of the Mark is disappearing, German inner strength remains.
The other side shows the underfed Germans looking across the Dutch border at the overfed Dutchman and the bundles of edibles stacked near him.
The beer has no malt, nothing to spread on the bread. The number of zeroes in our money gets ever longer, soon we’re done for.
A truly sad situation that gave rise to the 3rd reich and all the ills that came with it.
I load-up the following series as another favourite, and as a Luther-related item
It was executed by the noted Erfurt-artist Alred Hanf. More series designed by Hanf are: Genthin, Sömmerda, Luther-series Erfurt, Bismarck-series Genthin, Weissensee in Thüringen and Gebesee.
Maybe TG-M wd care to edit an article on this good artist?
The character on the left is ‘Deutscher Michel’ – the personification of the German People – wearing his usual nightcap. At these times, the German people were struggling with food shortages and an economic collapse. There is an article on the website covering notgeld depicting German Michel.
https://notgeld.com/gncc-notgeld-articles/deutscher-michael/
Wow, that is amazing information about the Kaiserhof note! With the crown and the moustache you really can see Kaiser Wilhelm II through the back – obviously the Hotel / Cafe is doing justice to itse name!
This made me think about the Stuttgart King’s Own Dragoons Regiment note (G/M 1288.1, Lm. 1257), which I recalled has a similar picture of a chap with the sun at his back, possibly by the same artist? This one’s carrying a scythe rather than a hammer. So I had a look. And what a discovery!
Again, on the reverse we have an empty rondel surmounted by a crown. And looking through the backlit note we see that the crown fits exactly on the head of the figure. No moustache, though, and the bearded gentlemen looks different, so it’s not Kaiser Wilhelm II.
It is however another Wilhelm II, the exiled King of Württemberg, the last of the German ruling princes to abdicate in 1918 (on 30th November). This makes complete sense as the note is from the King’s Own Regiment of Dragoons (Königsdragoner).
A note on the crowns : the Kaiserhof piece has not the Hohernzollern crown of Kaiser Wilhelm II in his role as King of Prussia, but the Imperial Crown befitting his role as emperor (Kaiserhof, remember). And the Stuttgart piece also has the exactly correct crown, the 1806 crown of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg’s ancestor Friedrich I, which I actually saw back in February this year in the Landesmuseum in Stuttgart. Coincidences abound.
Wow, that is amazing information about the Kaiserhof note! With the crown and the moustache you really can see Kaiser Wilhelm II through the back – obviously the Hotel / Cafe is doing justice to itse name!
This made me think about the Stuttgart King’s Own Dragoons Regiment note (G/M 1288.1, Lm. 1257), which I recalled has a similar picture of a chap with the sun at his back, possibly by the same artist? This one’s carrying a scythe rather than a hammer. So I had a look. And what a discovery!
Again, on the reverse we have an empty rondel surmounted by a crown. And looking through the backlit note we see that the crown fits exactly on the head of the figure. No moustache, though, and the bearded gentlemen looks different, so it’s not Kaiser Wilhelm II.
It is however another Wilhelm II, the exiled King of Württemberg, the last of the German ruling princes to abdicate in 1918 (on 30th November). This makes complete sense as the note is from the King’s Own Regiment of Dragoons (Königsdragoner).
A note on the crowns : the Kaiserhof piece has not the Hohernzollern crown of Kaiser Wilhelm II in his role as King of Prussia, but the Imperial Crown befitting his role as emperor (Kaiserhof, remember). And the Stuttgart piece also has the exactly correct crown, the 1806 crown of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg’s ancestor Friedrich I, which I actually saw back in February this year in the Landesmuseum in Stuttgart. Coincidences abound.
Wow, that is amazing information about the Kaiserhof note! With the crown and the moustache you really can see Kaiser Wilhelm II through the back – obviously the Hotel / Cafe is doing justice to itse name!
This made me think about the Stuttgart King’s Own Dragoons Regiment note (G/M 1288.1, Lm. 1257), which I recalled has a similar picture of a chap with the sun at his back, possibly by the same artist? This one’s carrying a scythe rather than a hammer. So I had a look. And what a discovery!
Again, on the reverse we have an empty rondel surmounted by a crown. And looking through the backlit note we see that the crown fits exactly on the head of the figure. No moustache, though, and the bearded gentlemen looks different, so it’s not Kaiser Wilhelm II.
It is however another Wilhelm II, the exiled King of Württemberg, the last of the German ruling princes to abdicate in 1918 (on 30th November). This makes complete sense as the note is from the King’s Own Regiment of Dragoons (Königsdragoner).
A note on the crowns : the Kaiserhof piece has not the Hohernzollern crown of Kaiser Wilhelm II in his role as King of Prussia, but the Imperial Crown befitting his role as emperor (Kaiserhof, remember). And the Stuttgart piece also has the exactly correct crown, the 1806 crown of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg’s ancestor Friedrich I, which I actually saw back in February this year in the Landesmuseum in Stuttgart. Coincidences abound.
Very interesting. I’m aware of another set that seems to have a similar “dot” in the corner on some of the notes. This colorful zoo set from Hamburg. I’ve circled the same area of each note to highlight the difference.
Hi Nate, this looks amazing! Just ordered my copy 😀. Can’t wait! Best wishes and kindest thanks.
My new Serienscheine book has officially been released! If you’d like to buy a copy, please visit notgeldbook.com. If you have any questions or encounter any issues on the site, please let me know!
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