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Hi to all of you – I have just found out some interesting info which is now included in my ‘1914 & 1915 Intro’ article, which you can find under ‘categories’ on the main yellow menu bar. The new info is right at the top of the article – the Bremen Burgliches Brauhaus
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did fnding it!
Marcel has mentioned a few others, documented in ‘Papiergeld#18’, so I have added those to the bottom of my ‘Wilhelm Busch’ article…..but only as ‘possible’. I was looking through some pieces and the Neustadt piece, with the hand punching through the paper, definitely looks like WB to me. I don’t know if that was the one that was referenced before. It is such a shame, as Marcel says, that so many of these notgeld graphics are not signed or initialed by the artist.
Happy collecting!
I’ve also just published the latest article about the graphics on the Bielefeld 10,000m linen pieces – Thanks John!!
I’ve started to write an article on Wilhelm Busch – so far I have notgeld from Bockenem, Gatersleben, Stolzenau & Wiedensahl. Has anyone got anymore for me please??
Hi Tony, August Teichmann was a textiles manufacturer. The firm is named in a 1922 court case in archived material of the Free State of Saxony, seeking damages for cotton offcuts lost in a fire on the railways. It didn’t survive this awful economic year, when it was also issuing its Notgeld; the Saxon archive also lists the years in which the firm was active as 1912-1922, in a separate section of the archive naming defunct firms – here it is referred to as Webwarenfabrik von August Teichmann, Wingendorf (Woven Goods Factory).
Can anyone answer this question for me please? : The 1922 Wingendorf notes issued by ‘August Teichmann’………what business was he in or what did Mr. Teichmann do?
Thanks in advance…..
I will be asking other notgeld contacts I have too in the meantime. Once I have an answer, hopefully………I will update the Wingendorf article (under specific towns, under Inflation 1922)
….and now the ‘C’ ones too – good work Nate.
What do other collectors think of what Nate is doing here? Please have a look at his work/project…….
Thanks, Tony!
I just updated the catalog – all “B” issuing localities are live! Check it out :)
There is a link to Nate’s catalogue that can be accessed from the main yellow menu bar on the homepage. Hopefully that makes it more easy for people.
Select categories/serienscheine and then ‘Nate’s serienscheine catalogue’. As the catalogue pages increase, I think this will be a wonderful help, especially to to new collectors – well done Nate.
As some of you know, I’ve been working on a notgeld catalog. The first section is now live: http://notgeldwiki.com/series-notgeld-catalog
This first update includes all the “A” issuing localities. I’ll be adding updates in alphabetical order, so the next “B” update will be live soon.
As some of you know, I’ve been working on a notgeld catalog. The first section is now live: http://notgeldwiki.com/series-notgeld-catalog
This first update includes all the “A” issuing localities. I’ll be adding updates in alphabetical order, so the next “B” update will be live soon.
Nate – I have just updated my ‘coal coins’ article with some of the info recorded in the Fraktur literature.
There seems to be an error in the listing of the serial numbers as 500m is mentioned twice and not a 1000m. Hopefully that was just a typo mistake …..but we can’t assume anything here. I have added the numbers to my article but for now, have not included them in my table.
Does anyone have any of these pieces in their collections that I have not recorded in the table? I’m looking for face value of coin, diameter, thickness and serial number inscribed on the coin(s) – thanks in advance!
I thought I had posted before but might have forgot to submit !- thanks guys for all the wonderful info and pictures. You are keeping me busy and I hope everyone is finding it all fascinating stuff.
I just read about Kai Lindman’s passing and would like to add my condolences to his friends, family and all the collectors who have been influenced by him or his writings.
While researching Notgeld motifs, especially those featuring townscapes and buildings long since bombed into rubble, I often have recourse to historical postcards. Recently I was delighted to come across a card, postmarked Halberstadt in 1907, featuring a picture which clearly served as the source for one of the designs depicting a sabbat on the Hexentanzplatz, the Witches’ Dance Floor, a mountain plateau above the town of Thale, a prolific issuer of emergency money.  The design is on six variant 25 Pfennig notes of the series G.M. 1320.4 (red, “Walpurgis 1921â€), 1320.5 (green, “Walpurgis†– shown here), 1320.6 (green, “Walpurgis 1922â€), 1320.7 (red, no start date), 1320.9 (orange, “Johanni 1921â€) and 1320.22 (grey-blue, “Sylvester 1921â€).
The pseudo-armorial shields, added by the Notgeld designer of 1921, depict the witches’ modes of transport mentioned by Goethe in Scene 21 of his drama Faust Part One (where he has the sabbat taking place not on the Hexentanzplatz but the nearby Brocken Mountain), namely broomsticks, a stick and a pitchfork  : “Es trägt der Besen, trägt der Stock, die Gabel trägt ….â€.
A note on the dates : Walpurgis is 1st May (St Walburga’s Day), Johanni is 24th June (Feast Day of the Nativity of St John the Baptist) and Sylvester is 31st December (St Sylvester’s Day).
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 recently digitized the entire 12.5 year run of The Fraktur, which you can find here -> notgeld.wiki
So sad to hear of Kai Lindman’s passing. He was such a prolific force in the world of Notgeld. His memory will live on through his incredible contributions and passion.
Thanks Marcel for this. It just shows how knowledgeable he was and his passing is so bad for the notgeld collecting world.
Kai Lindman (1949-2021), in memoriam.
As a tribute an article from Papiergeld # 24: a beautiful discovery of “new†Sereinscheine.
My notgeld passion continues. Today I added another scan to my Bielefeld 100m file/book. One that I have not seen over 40 years of collecting and researching them usually pops up on average once every couple of years. I know there must be others out there as all borders types probably had most different colours that appear on these types. So pieces that are ‘new’ may just be pieces I expect to turn up some day but which, so far, haven’t surfaced. What would be really good would be a totally ‘new’ piece.
Happy Collecting!
FYI – Some very sad news I want to share with you – Kai Lindman (Werner Kieselbach) has died. I learnt an awful lot about notgeld from Werner and his passing has come as a shock and has filled me with sadness. I visited him in Gifhorn, where he lived and after so many years of just chatting to him via email and telephone, I was able then to see him in person and find out what a lovely man he was. He was so knowledgeable about so many different banknote areas but to me, he will always be remembered (by me) as the ‘notgeld serienscheine world expert’!!
My thoughts are with his family and friends.
I think I still have about 8 different coloured borders here. Look at this as a great example: purple
Hi everyone!
I just wanted to inform you all that I have now published a book on the LuLu site entitled ‘CHARACTERFUL GEMS‘
This book, catalogues (and explains) the different types and the different borders of the Bielefeld 1000m silk and linen pieces (yellow and green). I have managed to show 50 different pieces which are all now individually catalogued. They make for a super collection.
If you want to purchase a copy, please use the top link on my notgeld homepage section ‘My Books’. Thanks for any interest shown!
Hello all: Sorry to have been away for a while. First I took a hiatus from sorting/cataloging my collection to pursue another hobby, video games. Had a few personal things happen which also kept me away from the forum. About a week ago my wife’s children came for a visit. Children, ha! They’re both senior citizens. They left today, which is Mothers’ Day in the US.
I’m not back to working with notgeld yet, just wanted to pop on the forum to tell you I’m still alive and kicking.
Be well, everyone.
Thanks John!
I have been busy updating the ‘maps’ article with pieces suggested by Marcel.
I’ll get these ones added to the Goethe article now. There’s no rest for the wicked!!
Hi Tony, regarding Goethe, and just off the top of my head : Serienscheine from Ilmenau, Ilsenburg, Roda, Schierke, Stützerbach, Thale, Wernigerode and Weimar; inflation notes from Neustadt im Schwarzwald and Vohwinkel. That’s 10 places and my starter for ten!
Chaps – I have just published 3 articles on ‘Goethe’, ‘Piggies’ & ‘maps’. I’m a little busy at the moment so I hope you can help me build up the listings please? I know there are lots of pieces out there but I just need to add them in. I probably have the pictures here already, so just send me the place of issue please. We will see how they go, but I thought it might be a good notgeld exercise for a few of you!
Keep well and keep collecting!!
Marcel – all sorted – thanks.
Here is a nice pair of notes I thought I would post for people to see – with and without serial numbers:
Hi Marcel – please post the other pictures again as there was some sort of error. I have left the 2 larger sized images.
700 Mark notes of Ujest and Neisse
Ujest: 27.5.1923 has two different notes. See for the examples below. The colourful note has also a serialnumber on the empty backsite.
The colourful note is used with  overprints on the empty backsite: 100.000, 500.000 and 1.000.000 Marks. They have two kinds of stamps.
Neisse: 25.5.1923 Has three different notes. Two are on “sämisch Kartonpapier†in the printing colours braun and olive. The third one is on “Büttenpapier†in printing colour olive.
These two towns issued these notes as : “Erinnerungsschein zum 700 järihrigen Jubileum der Stadt Ujest O.S.â€and “Erinnerungsschein 700 Jahr. Stadt Neisseâ€.
The translation is: both are souvenirs to the 700 years anniversary of the towns.
These two towns are in the 3ed of PUZ (Lindman “largeâ€). Are they Serienscheine?
Dr. Arnold Keller says explicit in his “Das Notgeld der Deutschen Inflation 1923â€: “Souvenir…not Notgeld†at the entrance Neisse (#3748.a). At Ujest (#5278) he says only “souvenirâ€. Grabowski/Mehl says in the preface: Serienscheine 1918 till 17 juli 1922. These two towns issued these notes almost a year later.
I think Neisse and Ujest have the benefit of the doubt. They look like Serienscheine and some of the Serienscheine in the catalogue are forgeries (e.g. Süderbrarup and Neukirch), but have found there place in the catalogues. Also there are issues after the official end date in the catalogues. And 700 Mark = 700 years is a bit of a smile to the inflation.
Hi John,
Yes I’ve got 1,60m note as well, that is interesting one of the 700m note
Thanks for showing me
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).
I think this is the most unusual value of 99 pfennig note from Neustadt, I wondering if there is any other unusual value notes?
Thanks Zacary for your post and your comments about my new book. I hope you decide to purchase a copy.
Greetings everyone.
I am Zacary Wilson-Fetrow, a historian, lawyer and notgeld collector out of New Mexico, USA. I have been collecting notgeld for many years now (at least four). The first notgeld I ever bought was the Bonn Beethoven notgeld coin, before I got into the notes, where I now focus.
Tony asked me to post here to talk about some of my recent history work. I had an article published by the The Numismatist that discussed the history of the Reutergeld notgeld from Mecklenburg. In it, I investigated the life and influence of Fritz Reuter, discussed the historical context that led to the Reutergeld, and explored the major design elements put into the 210-note Serienscheine. I am also happy because more facts about the notes’ designers were finally uncovered in historical records not long before the article was published. I was able to get in those details.
I had a lot of fun writing the article, and I have shared a copy of the first page below. You would have to become a member of the American Numismatic Association to see the rest, but I am happy to answer questions.
Other than that, I have a few other writing projects in the works. When I wrote the Reutergeld article (back in late 2019, it took over a year to publish), I had a lot planned but also a lot on my plate. Now I have more time, and I am planning on an article for The Asylum of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society about the main book I used for my Reutergeld research. I also have articles I have been researching for two years about Esperanto, Greenlandic, and Culion Island (Philippines) currency.
I really like the idea of this book. Nothing is sadder than reading about an exciting notgeld, only for it to be picture-less.
My new book ‘ELUSIVE GEMS‘ is now available to purchase. It covers the main catalogue entries in the 2 blue Grabowski/Mehl books that have no picture! Most of these pieces are very rare …….and elusive, which is why they didn’t appear in those 2003 catalogues. There has been 1 update since which added a few but I can’t be the only collector still using the blue serienscheine catalogues, surely? I drafted up a list of over 100 entries with no picture and then tried to find what those pieces looked like. A fascinating project and a lot of learning along the way. I do hope you purchase a copy and enjoy all the pictures and info supplied within it.
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!
Welcome, Randolph!
John – that is an amazing story! Haha. Thank you for sharing, as always.
Hello Everyone,
I am a new member of notgeld.com, and am a fairly new collector in general too. I am particularly interested in inflation bank notes and have a growing collection. I look forward to learning more and interacting with you guys on the forum.
If anyone else is interested in inflation notes, please let me know and maybe we can start up a separate thread.
Speak soon!
Randolph.
Fascinating info.
All forum readers – latest article about the artist Georg Koetschau is now live and showing on the ‘latest articles’ section.
Have great Easter!!
One of my Notgeld interests is the coats of arms of towns and states and individuals, and the stories and histories which lie behind them. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be exploring Quedlinburg in Saxony, a gorgeous old town from which I have a number of Notgeld pieces. The example below is Grabowski, Q1.3b.1, from 10th May 1917.
If you look really hard you can see a little dog in the middle of the coat of arms! I thought I’d find out why.
Quedlinburg’s emblem, as shown, is an imperial eagle (Quedlinburg was a Reichsstadt, an Imperial Free Town) upon which is a shield bearing a castle (Burg) containing a dog. One legend says that a dog called Quedel once barked to warn the citizens of an impending attack by a band of robbers, hence the name of the town: “Quedel + in + Burg† (“Quedel in castleâ€).
In another, more involved origin legend, Kaiser Henry III fell in love with his own daughter Mathilda, who wished she was ugly so as to quell his passion. She even made a pact with the Devil who agreed to help her, but he would take her soul if he could catch her asleep over the course of three nights. Â Quedel the dog helped keep his mistress awake to cheat the Devil, who clawed her face in rage, and thereby kept the pact. She founded an abbey called Quedlinburg in commemoration of, or in thanks for her handy canine-assisted Satanic incest-preventing disfigurement (?!). Why she dealt with the Devil rather than praying for divine intervention is perhaps another issue …
[NB Quedlinburg Abbey was actually established by St Mathilda, the wife of Kaiser Henry I, a good century before Kaiser Henry III, who did have a daughter called Mathilda, later Duchess of Swabia, of whom history records no funny business with Satanic pacts during an apparently blameless life.]
Legends are of course notoriously unreliable, but the two attempted explanations of the presence of the little dog on the note are at least diverting.Â
Have you tried to find a notgeld with your birthday as the date of issue…..not the year though. I thought it was a nice little exercise and was very pleased when I found a couple of variant notes. I’m thinking of framing them and hanging them in my ‘notgeld room’!! Anyone else done the same thing?
This is all wonderful info gents, so thanks for all the posts. Keep ’em coming!!
I stumbled upon this note recently. I hope you like it and find it interesting…….
Its the first example I had with a fingerprint ‘signature/stamp mark’.
Stargard, Sammellager für Ausländer (“Assembly camp for foreignersâ€)
Just after WWI there was a great migration in the east of former Germany. Â Soldiers who want to go home, but also civilians. The new state of Poland was at war with Russia and they forced them to fight in the army against the Russians. Much of these refugees where Jews, because of the many pogroms. The most of them migrated to the USA.
To make it easier to concentrate this migration, the German state established assembly camps in e.g. Stargard and Cottbus-Sielow.
Stargard issued Notgeld for this camp. It was only valid in the camp. With a stamp the note was made invalid.
The camp was closed end 1923.
About the “Bielefeld doesn’t exist” conspiracy … in October 2019 I was driving from Münster to Detmold, planning to stop off in Bielefeld because of my interest in Notgeld. If you draw a line between the two, you actually have to pass through the southern suburbs of Bielefeld to get from one to the other. I left Münster in the morning, and the next memory I have is being at the Hermann Monument in Detmold just before midday.  Just saying …
Thanks Nathaniel for your compliment on the Reuter-album.
See also the article on Avignon POW (Neuhaus) written by John
The town of Lichtenhorst (between Hannover and Bremen) had in WWI a POW-camp for officers. There were issues during the war. In the early 1920’s the “Kantine H. Heyer” issued the Serienscheine serie of the POW-camp Lichtenhorst. This had nothing to do with the camp, he was the owner of the canteen. He issued the serie because he needed the money for the rent. See the text on the sign on the front of the note: “Erfrischungsraum H. Heyer”. The images on the back show an impression of the camp and the surroundings. The camp was closed in 1924.
The city of Neustadt am Rübenberg has a note of the “Russenlager Lichtenhorst”.
Super interesting—thanks for the information, John! Speaking of Bielefeld, did you know there is a long-running conspiracy theory/joke that Bielefeld doesn’t exist? Apparently these conspiracy theorists weren’t notgeld collectors B-).
The Bielefeld Stadtscheine booklet shows scenes from the Legend of the Blacksmith of Bielefeld. In the first picture, we see the Devil teaching the blacksmith all the secret arts of the forge in exchange for his soul (we see the Devil holding a piece of metal on the anvil while the smith beats it with his hammer).
The second picture shows St Peter at the forge, paying the smith who has just shod his horse; the smith says that as money just seems to disappear out of his purse, he wishes for a sack from which nothing can escape without his say-so, and St Peter grants his wish. [Later, when the Devil comes for his soul, the smith invites him in through the keyhole, captures him in the bag and then beats him on the anvil until the Devil leaves him alone; in fact, when the smith dies, the Devil refuses to have him in Hell.]
The third picture shows what happens when the smith turns up at Heaven’s Gate and is refused entry on account of his pact with the Devil; the smith throws his dirty old apron through the gate, and when he’s told to remove it he steps into Heaven, sits on his apron and refuses to budge as he’s sitting on his own property (we see St Peter remonstrating with the smith who resolutely ignores the saint).
The last picture seems to show a triumphant smith parading before the angels in Heaven, but this isn’t a familiar part of the legend so it’s my best guess.
The rhyme says : “And if we don’t see each other again in this world, then we’ll meet again where the Smith of Bielefeld is.”
Thanks Gary.
I have just published my latest article on ‘Marggrabowa’ inflation notes – see ‘latest articles’ on right side of homepage please.
Since most readers go to this Chit Chat section, I just want to mention that I posted another weirdo under the IDENTIFICATION topic. If you want to see mucho signatures on a piece of Notgeld, take a gander.
Nate – I’ve seen this before but don’t understand the imagery at all. Do You?
The Reutergeld album looks lovely in red/pink!! Mine sold already though……….
In my collection: the Reuter-notes and the green Reuter-album (with the complete serie). Also the DVD and the book by Ingrid Moeller. The briefcase is on my wishlist !
That is a nice article about Reuter and the Reutergeld. It was (and is) a very popular Serienscheine edition. It was a big operation to combine 70 cities and five artists. To make it a succes there was a promotion campaign. Not only you can buy the 70 series, but there were albums (in red, blue and green) with the 210 notes and two kind of briefcases in cardboard and artficial leather) with the notes and information. All kind of flyers made it all complete. Mentioned is even a “Reuter-Geschellschaftsspiel” (a board game), but never displayed.
In the 1990’s a beautiful oversized book was published about Reutergeld: Ingrid Moeller; “Das Mecklenburgische Reutergeld von 1922, ein kulturgeschichtliches Kuriosum”. A feast for the eye.
Marian Reijersen from the Netherlands made a DVD-book about Reuter and the notes in 2011 and is still for sell.
Thank you! Yes, these can be very hard to find at all, but especially in nice condition.
Hi Nate!
I only had 3 of the set of 4. They are real scarce pieces and you have done so well because the condition of all your pieces is very good. I have seen very tatty pieces before. As you have the catalogues, you’ll know their cat values!!
Thanks, Tony! Happy to be part of the club now.
I’ll share one of my favorite sets from my collection. This set took me years to put together!
Here is the link that Nate kindly provided.
I’ve just published my latest article on inflationary notes I found from Letmathe. (Homepage right-hand side)
Thanks Nate……and welcome to the forum. Thanks for your post.
I just edited your post so the link opened in a new window but its disappeared now!
I’ll sort out tomorrow if it doesn’t reappear!!
I took screenshots of the Reutergeld article from the March 2021 Numismatist issue that was referenced earlier in this thread. You can see it here:
Altrahlstedt are masters in recycling there notes. These are the third edition with a overprint. One note with 20.000.000 Mk I do not have in my (phot0-) collection. The hyper-inflation overprints are on the notes with the first and second overprint.
Gary – the underwear banknote thieves were caught not by security checks on their persons but when one of them tried to pay a large sum in used notes into a local bank. Only one of the gang was criminally prosecuted, and got an 18-month prison sentence; the other six were sued by the Bank of England for a cool half a million pounds. Ouch. I used to play at the snooker hall next to the incinerator plant at the time and had no idea of the crime going on just a couple of hundred yards away. Btw, just in case anyone’s interested and has 15,000 euros spare : here’s a screenshot of the ebay offer of the Saar note for 15,000 euros (on ebay.de) – the auction finishes tomorrow!
Hi Dan, just saw your post now that Tony’s moved it! I’m pretty sure you mean the buildings on the Erfurt sets G. / M. 344.5 and 344.6, so here goes …
On the reverse of the notes, the buildings are identified by the textbox on the right, which means that on the 50 Pfennig note we have the Dom, Severi und Predigerkirche (i.e. St Mary’s Cathedral – in the middle - and St Severus’ church – on the right, both of which are next to each other on the Domberg or Cathedral Hill; nearby we have the unusually named Preacher’s Church – on the left on the note). The 10 Pfennig note has the scene Alt Erfurt Am Dämmchen (Erfurt Old Town, on the artificial island known as the Dämmchen – “little causeway or dam” – on one of the arms of the River Gera) with the steeple of St Bartholomew’s recognisable in the background. The 20 Pfennig note has the Alte Universität Michaeliskirche (Old University St Michael’s Church), where we see on the left with the archway the Collegium Maius, former seat of the old university (founded 1392), St Michael’s Church being the rather squat building on the right. The 25 Pfennig note shows the Krämerbrucke und Aegidienkirche (the famous Merchant’s Bridge and St Aegidius’ Church).
The obverse of the notes also show buildings but does not identify them by name. However, it’s possible to recognise the steeple of St Paul’s in the background of the right-hand panel of the 20 Pfennig note. The 25 Pfennig note shows the now ruined Franciscan Church (victim of Allied bombing) on the left-hand panel; and on the right-hand panel the churches look like the Merchants’ Church on the left and the church of St Augustine’s monastery on the right. The steeples of the Franciscan Church and St Augustine’s look similar but the pitch of the roof is different (and St Augustine’s is closer to the Merchants’ Church).  The right-hand panel of the 50 Pfennig note seems to show All Saints Church at the end of the street, which may be Allerheiligenstrasse.
The other buildings don’t seem to match historic buildings that survived the 27 air attacks on Erfurt and the shelling that preceded ground operations to take the town in April 1945. I may have to have a longer look at pre-war postcards to identify them, but I hope the work done so far helps a little to answer your question.
Dan – thanks for your post which I moved to here and can be seen below (about 3 or 4 posts down) – hopefully someone will reply…….
Hi everyone – I’ve just published my ‘Dessau’ serienscheine article – you’ll find it on the left hand side of the homepage.
Good point. I suppose, if someone were energetic enough to ask for information from the government there…
I saw on Ebay that a replica of that note is for sale from Albania or one of those countries.
I should buy it and frame it. Then put a label on it saying something like: “More expensive than a 1/2 pound (troy) gold bar.”
I like that story about the cleaning staff going home with their underwear stuffed with old notes. There are several spy/thriller books and movies out about someone getting hold of the plates used for making currency. How did they ever catch those underwear theives? I can imagine a lot of people wanting that job.
Also a true story of the Germans using an expert engraver, a concentration camp inmate, to produce currency plates, mostly of British £.
A gifted counterfeiter would definitely make a profit on this one! Just thinking about the apparent issue of over 40,000 notes, going by the serial number 44628, and where the notes might have ended up … perhaps the serial number is simply an indication of how many notes were printed, rather than how many were issued? It may be that they had a high print run but then issued relatively few. As to what may have happened to a surfeit of banknotes – I used to live in Debden in northeast London, just round the corner from the Bank of England’s incinerator plant, where recalled and out-of-circulation banknotes were disposed of (there was a scandal there back in the early 90s when it was discovered that cleaning staff had been leaving the premises with their underwear stuffed with banknotes). So I wonder whether the apparent rarity of this particular note might be due to it not having been actually issued in quantity, and the larger part of the print run destroyed, perhaps because of a change in policy? (Rubs chin thoughtfully …)
Based on the serial number of the note in the photo, there could be some 40,000 of these notes outstanding. Probably more. What could have happened to all of them? Stored in someone’s attic perhaps?
Again, for that high a valuation, counterfeiting is a strong possibility.
I have not been on the forum for a while. Â To Charles, yes I have the notes you referred to. Â I have the Erfurt set. Very colorful. I do not speak German, so I often need help with translations. For the Erfurt set, I would like help in identifying the buildings depicted on each note of the set. Â I believe I recognize the monestery which Luther joined. Â I do also collect other Luther items such as stamps, medals, postcards. Â Dan
We’ve stayed in Saarbrücken a couple of times in the last few years - a nice town, in a pretty area, and with a great swimming pool : the Calypso. I had a look in the latest Rosenberg catalogue (completely updated and re-numbered by Grabowski in 2018) to see the catalogue price and wow, sure enough it’s actually 15,000 euros! So the price on ebay is, well, for want of a better word, right. Also the catalogue gives the price of 20,000 euros for the whole set of 1947 Saar specimen notes with a zero serial number; that’s quite eye-watering. And possibly a reminder not to inadvertently scratch one’s nose at an auction.
My wife was born in Saarbrücken, way before the war. Saarbrücken is the capital of the Saarland region, which was French for a few years after the war. That’s why the note is denominated as 100 Marks and the French “Cent”.
As a complete aside, did you know that the fraction of the Italian Lira (pre-Euro) was called Centissimi? I always got a kick out of that word.
Found a colored photo of that note. Incidentally, you have to be very wary of Ebay prices. People can ask anything, doesn’t mean they’ll get it.
For a note that expensive, I’m willing to bet that someone would counterfeit it.
Yes, of course, RS is Rückseite, or backside. As in Rucksack or backpack (do they still use that word?). Sorry, my mind isn’t nearly as sharp as it once was. Hope I’m not getting the big “A”.
Glad I restricted my collecting from 1914 – 1923/4 !!
I always remember VS as front and RS as back (reverse).
When you get into different watermarks, always best to hold the piece up to a window in the light of day…..I’ve always found. They I refer back to my catalogues as they have the main watermarks listed in the front or back….can’t remember which. There is also a link on my ‘other links’ tab to a good watermarks site I found a long time ago……..if you ever need that!
Thanks guys for all the forum posts!
I just looked for that note on Ebay but didn’t see it. Here is a picture from Grabowski’s 2006 catalog:
DEEP POCKETS? It’s a little outside our usual area of collection, but falls under the topic of German Notgeld – there is currently a kassenfrisch 1947 100-Mark note from the Saarland (catalogues as Rosenberg 872/SAR-13) on ebay for a reserve price of 15,000.00 euros! There’s a description of it, but no picture of it – the vendor explains that the note itself is in a safety deposit box so he’s substituted a picture of another note (an old Wilhelmine colonial issue), just to give people zapping through an idea of the kind of note on offer.
Has anyone seen a German note with this kind of price tag? Or even more expensive? Could be a conversation starter!
Glad to help. A little, anyway. Now if someone could help me identify my piece, please? I posted it last night (Pacific time) under the new topic: “Identification”.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the fantastic information
I believe my note is 27.3 as I noticed the 0 is larger on the right at the back
Cheers
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