notgeld

Dr Arnold Keller, historian and orientalist, classified German {{lang|de|Notgeld}} into different periods. Keller edited a magazine called {{lang|de|Das Notgeld}} during the "collector phase" of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} issuance. He compiled a series of catalogs in the years afterward. Although incomplete in many cases, his work formed the foundations of the hobby.

File:Notgeld Burghausen 1918 50 Pfennig Vorderseite.jpg}} banknote issued by the southern German city of Burghausen in 1918]]

{{lang|de|Notgeld}} was released even before Germany entered World War I. On 31 July 1914 three notes were issued by the {{lang|de|Bürgerliches Brauhaus GmbH|italic=no}} of Bremen{{cite book |first=Courtney |last=Coffing |isbn=0-89005-438-X |title=Perspectives in Numismatics |publisher=Chicago Coin Club |year=1986 |url=https://archive.org/details/perspectivesinnu00need |url-access=registration }} (a brewery). This was due to hoarding of coins by the population in the days before war was declared. The first period of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} continued until the end of 1914, but mostly ceased once the German {{lang|de|Reichsbank|italic=no}} made up for the shortage with issues of small denomination paper notes and coins of cheaper metal.

As the war dragged on, acute monetary shortages could not be met by the German central bank, leading to a new period of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} beginning in 1916. Additionally, the non-precious metals used to mint lower value coins were needed to produce war supplies. Dr Keller arranged this period into two catalogs: {{lang|de|Kleingeldscheine}} for issues of less than 1 Mark face value and {{lang|de|Grossgeldscheine}} for values 1 Mark and higher. This period of issue came to a close in 1919.{{Cite journal |last=Eiland |first=Murray |date=2010 |title=Heraldry on German Notgeld |url=https://www.academia.edu/8125755 |journal=The Armiger's News |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=1–3, 12 |via=academia.edu}}

Although camp money used by prisoners of war was different from {{lang|de|Notgeld}}, collectors inevitably lumped this material into the hobby. The period covered the entire war, 1914–1918. This field of collecting may include World War II issues, though this covers only notes circulated in concentration camps, as the German {{lang|de|Luftwaffe|italic=no}} in charge of prisoners of war prepared a general issue of notes for all camps under their direction.

File:Mainz 50 Pfg 1921.jpg, 1921]]

Though the production of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} was initially amateurish, with many set by typewriter or even handwritten, collectors soon appeared on the scene to take hold of the expired 1914 stock. With the next wave of issues in the latter half of the war, {{lang|de|Notgeld}} production was handled by professional printers. These issues incorporated pleasing designs, and a new reason for hoarding came into being.

As the issuing bodies realized this demand, they began to issue notes in 1920, well after their economic necessity had ended. They may have been motivated by the success of Austrian collector {{lang|de|Notgeld}} earlier in the year (see below). Notes were issued predominantly in 1921 and were usually extremely colorful. These depicted many subjects, such as local buildings, local scenery and folklore, as well as politics. Many were released in series of 6, 8, or more notes of the same denomination, and tell a short story, with often whimsical illustrations. Often, they were sold to collectors in special envelope packets printed with a description of the series.

Keller published information on releases in his magazine {{lang|de|Das Notgeld}}. Often, he used his publication to criticize issuers for charging collectors more money for the series than their face value.

These collector-only sets, which were never intended to circulate, were known as {{lang|de|Serienscheine}} (pieces issued as a part of a series). Quite often, the validity period of the note had already expired when the {{lang|de|Notgeld}} was issued. As such, they are usually found in uncirculated condition, and are most favored by collectors all over the world.

File:Notgeld fritz quant 10 millionen mark.jpg, after a copperplate print by Matthäus Merian (1646)]]

In 1922, due to uncontrolled printing of money, inflation started to get out of control in Germany, culminating in hyperinflation. Throughout the year, the value of the mark deteriorated faster and faster, and new money was issued in higher and higher denominations. The {{lang|de|Reichsbank|italic=no}} could not cope with the logistics of providing all these new notes, and {{lang|de|Notgeld}} was again issued—this time in denominations of hundreds and then thousands of Marks.

File:5milmkbk.jpg during the hyperinflation of 1923]]

By July 1923, the {{lang|de|Reichsbank|italic=no}} had totally lost control of the economy. {{lang|de|Notgeld}} flooded the economy; it was issued by any city, town, business, or club that had access to a printing press, in order to meet the ever-increasing rise in prices. Even {{lang|de|Serienscheine}} were being hand-stamped with large denominations to meet the demand. By September, {{lang|de|Notgeld}} was denominated in the tens of millions; by October, in billions; by November, trillions.

On November 12, the {{lang|de|Reichsbank|italic=no}} declared the Mark to be valueless, and ceased all issuance. By now, {{lang|de|Notgeld}} was being denominated in the form of commodities or other currencies: wheat, rye, oats, sugar, coal, wood, quantities of natural gas, and kilowatt-hours of electricity. These pieces were known as {{lang|de|Wertbeständige}}, or notes of "fixed value". There were also {{lang|de|Notgeld}} coins that were made of compressed coal dust. These became quite rare, as most of them were eventually traded with the coal merchant issuer for actual coal and some may have even been burned as fuel.

In January 1924, the {{lang|de|Reichsbank|italic=no}} fixed the value of the new {{lang|de|Rentenmark}} in gold. One U.S. dollar was now equivalent to 4.2 {{lang|de|Rentenmark}} (or 4.2 trillion old {{lang|de|Papiermark}}, which were permitted to be exchanged beginning 30 August 1924). Until that date, a few municipalities issued {{lang|de|Notgeld}} with denominations of 4.2 Mark or multiples or fractions of that. After that date, {{lang|de|Goldmarkscheine}} of regular denominations were briefly issued, until the {{lang|de|Reichsbank|italic=no}} forbade any further interference in the economy by local authorities.

During the Interwar period, local municipalities and civic groups capitalized on the public memories of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} by issuing certificates aimed at collectors, to raise funds for various building projects. These "Building Blocks" ({{lang|de|Bausteine}}) tended to be of relatively high face value and issued in very limited numbers.

The {{lang|de|Reichsbank|italic=no}} kept strict control of the economy during World War II, and forbade local authorities from independently meeting money shortages. After Germany's defeat, the Allied Military Control issued currencies for each of their respective areas of control, but did not alleviate coin scarcity. The dire situation after the war forced municipalities to once again issue {{lang|de|Notgeld}} to help the population meet small change needs. Finally, the Currency Reform of June 1948 created the {{lang|de|Deutsche Mark}} and prohibited issuance of {{lang|de|Notgeld}}. Apart from commemorative pieces issued sporadically, the era of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} in Germany came to a close.

File:50pfg-koeln2.jpg, later the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. ]]

Austrian municipalities experienced coin shortages during the revolution of 1848, especially in the Czech towns, and therefore many municipalities and industrial concerns issued {{lang|de|Notgeld}} as a temporary measure. By 1850, the state finances were in such an order as to render them unnecessary, though certain parts of Hungary still experienced shortages as late as 1860, requiring {{lang|de|Notgeld}}-type issues.

As in Germany, municipalities in Austria-Hungary issued {{lang|de|Notgeld}} at the beginning of World War I. In most cases, small change scarcity was severest in the industrial Czech towns of Bohemia and Moravia. From the end of the war into 1919, German-speaking towns of the new Czechoslovakia issued {{lang|de|Grossgeldscheine}} notes until the authorities forbade them to do so.

File:WWI Hungarian lagergeld - 10 filler 1915 Kenyérmező.jpg}} 1915, Breadfield]]

As with Germany, collectors tended to lump Austro-Hungarian prison camp money in with {{lang|de|Notgeld}}. Most issues date from 1916–1917, with the majority of camps situated in Austria proper, Hungary, and Czech territories.

In 1920, hundreds of small towns across Upper and Lower Austria, but also many towns in Salzburg, Tyrol, and Styria, issued sets of collectible {{lang|de|Notgeld}}, usually in three denominations with expiry dates of three months from issuance. Nearly all were printed on thin paper, often in runs ({{lang|de|Auflage}}) of different colors or shades. Some of these notes actually circulated, but the vast majority entered private collections, and the scheme's success in raising funds for destitute town budgets convinced German towns to do the same thing (see above).

After the initial run of regular series, there were numerous releases of "special issues" ({{lang|de|Sonderscheine}}) featuring different designs and denominations, fanciful overprints, or the same design as the general issues but in expensive metallic inks on different paper types. Many of these special issues were printed in very small quantities in order to charge premiums to collectors. Groups of rural villages issued {{lang|de|Sonderscheine}}, even though some had populations of only a few dozen inhabitants.

In a bid to increase economic activity, several depressed municipalities in the Alps regions of Austria experimented with demurrage currency features in their {{lang|de|Notgeld}} during the period 1932–1934. As the notes lost value ({{lang|de|Schwund}}) over time, the idea was to convince holders to spend them quickly, thereby spurring economic activity. Notes had dated spaces for demurrage coupons to be affixed to them, and each one lessened the total value as they were added. The effort was unsuccessful because the scale of the experiment was too small to show any benefit.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7XrNAAACAAJ |page=115 |publisher=H. Gietl Verlag |first=Rudolf |last=Richter |title=Notgeld Österreich: Deutsch-Österreich und Nachfolgestaaten mit Nebengebieten ab 1918 |isbn=9783924861117 |year=1993 }}

File:Gun money.JPG issued by Jacobite forces. It was intended to be exchanged for a sterling silver coin in the event of James' victory.]]

The forces of James II minted coins in base metal (copper, brass, pewter) during the Williamite War in Ireland, which were known as gun money, because some of the metal was sourced from melted-down cannon. It was intended that, in the event of James' victory, the coins could be exchanged for real silver coins. They were also stamped with the month of issue so that soldiers could claim interest on their wages. As James lost the war, that replacement never took place, but the coins were allowed to circulate at much reduced values before the copper coinage was resumed.

In Sweden, between 1715 and 1719, 42 million coins with the nominal value 1 {{lang|sv|daler}} silver were manufactured, but made in copper, with a much smaller metal value. All silver coins were collected by the government, which replaced them with the copper coins. They were called {{lang|sv|nödmynt}} ('emergency coins'). This was done to finance the Great Northern War. The government promised to exchange them into the correct value at a future time, a kind of bond made in metal. Only a small part of this value was ever paid.

File:Etablissements Louis Biret, timbre de 5 centimes.jpg to provide an indicator of value, 1920s. Note that if that stamp has been paid for it has no face value.]]

Throughout the German occupation of Belgium during World War I there was a shortage of official coins and banknotes in circulation. As a result, around 600 {{lang|fr|communes}}, local governments and companies issued their own unofficial "necessity money" ({{langx|fr|monnaie de nécessité}}, {{langx|nl|noodgeld}}) to enable the continued functioning of the local economies.{{cite web |title=Billets de nécessité belges de la Première Guerre mondiale |url=http://www.nbbmuseum.be/fr/catalogue/necessity-money |publisher=National Bank of Belgium Museum |accessdate=23 November 2013 }} These usually took the form of locally produced banknotes, but a few types of coins were also issued in towns and cities. In 2013, the Museum of the National Bank of Belgium digitized its collection of Belgian {{lang|de|Notgeld}}, which is available online.{{cite web |title=Billets de nécessité belges - catalogue |url=https://noodgeld.ocularium.be/#/modules/custom/nbb/emergencymoney/16 |publisher=National Bank of Belgium Museum |accessdate=12 August 2023 }}

Between 1914 and 1927, large amounts of {{lang|fr|monnaie de nécessité}} were issued in France and its North African colonies during the economic crisis caused by World War I. Among the issuing authorities were companies and local chambers of commerce.

Emergency currency circulated in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.{{cite web |url=https://repub.eur.nl/pub/115113/wehc-2018-Boston-fractionary.pdf |title=The pervasiveness of monetary plurality in economic crisis and wars |last1=Gomez |first1=Georgina M |last2=Prittwitz und Gaffron |first2=Wilko von |date=2018 |website=Erasmus University Rotterdam |publisher=International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam |access-date=25 April 2025}}

The concept of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} as temporary payment certificates is nearly as old and widespread as paper money itself{{cn|date=October 2021}}. Other countries using {{lang|de|Notgeld}}-style temporary money include the following (date ranges are approximate):

{{div col}}

• Anglo-Egyptian Sudan{{cite book|last=Coffing|first=Courtney L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xr9puQEACAAJ |title=A Guide & Checklist: World Notgeld, 1914-1947 and Other Local Issue Emergency Money|edition=2nd|year=2000|publisher=Krause Publications|location=Iola|isbn=0-87341-810-7}}
• Algeria
• Angola
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Azores
• Cameroons
• Cape Verde Islands
• Ceylon
• China, during its civil war, 1916–1949
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia), during the 1848 revolution, 1848–1849; during and after World War I, 1916–1920
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Finland, 1918–1922
• France
• French Equatorial Africa
• French Indo-China
• French Oceania
• French Somaliland
• French West Africa
• Gabon
• German East Africa
• German Samoa
• German New Guinea
• German Southwest Africa
• Gibraltar
• Grand Comoro
• Great Britain
• Greece
• Greenland
• Hong Kong
• Hungary, during the 1848 revolution, 1848–1849 and sporadically thereafter; during and after World War I, 1914–1922
• Iceland
• India
• Indian princely states, during the British Raj, c. 1890–1948
• Isle of Man
• Italy; during the 1970's, see Miniassegno
• Japan, during its feudal period (so-called Hansatsu), 1600–1871
• Kenya
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxemburg
• Macao
• Madagascar
• Madeira
• Martinique
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Philippines (Emergency circulating notes)
• Poland, 1914–1922
• Portugal
• Portuguese Guinea
• Revolutionary France, 1791–1800
• Rhodesia
• Romania
• Russian Poland
• Russia
• Russian Baltic governorates, 1860–1880
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Soviet Russia, including territories to become Soviet republics (such as Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), 1917–1924
• Spain
• Sudan
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Tunisia
• United States, during the Civil War 1861–1865 (for example, Sutler scrip); during the depression, 1930–1940; during the cent shortage, 1974
• Uruguay
• Yugoslavia, 1918–1920

{{div col end}}

{{Portal|Money|Numismatics}}

• Porcelain money
• Scrip
• Siege money
• Token coin

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{commons category-inline}}
• [http://germannotgeld.com Info and pictures about German notgeld]
• [https://notgeld.com/ Info about notgeld and collecting German notgeld]
• [http://banknoteindex.com/browse.mhtml?browseBy=Type&browse=Notgeld German and Austrian Notgeld Banknotes]
• [http://notgeld.meulie.net/ High-resolution images of many German Notgeld Banknotes]
• [http://www.geldschein.at/notgeld.html Information and pictures to all Austrian Notgeld periods]
• [http://www.notafilia.com.br/engnotgeld.html Notgeld at notafilia.com.br]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080515112334/http://webgerman.com/Notgeld/ Annotated Directory of German Series Notes]
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/migueloks/sets/72157612715226525/ Notgeld photographs] on Flickr
• [http://www.nbbmuseum.be/fr/catalogue/necessity-money Belgian emergency money from the First World War: an online collection] {{in lang|fr}}
• [https://en.numista.com/catalogue/german-notgeld-1.html Catalog of German notgeld coins] (Numista)
• [https://en.numista.com/catalogue/german-notgeld-banknotes-1.html Catalog of German notgeld banknotes] (Numista)
• [https://en.numista.com/catalogue/french-states-1.html Catalog of French notgeld coins] (Numista)
• [https://en.numista.com/catalogue/french-states-banknotes-1.html Catalog of French notgeld banknotes] (Numista)

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Category:Currencies of Germany

Category:Numismatic terminology

Category:1920s in Germany

Category:Emergency money