2016-08-11 Thu

The World Wars changed the course of history and brought with itself many changes. The political changes were just a tip of the ice berg. Daily commerce of the common people was affected the most and the wars hit the economies of the world disastrously!

In the early years of the wars, Germany faced an acute wartime coin shortage followed by a hyperinflation and the collapse of its economy. It was then that the country issued a variety of “Notgelds” or "emergency money."

The best known notgeld were richly illustrated paper notes. Others were designed metal and ceramic tokens, encased postage, playing cards, and strips of leather, pieces of coal, and wood etc.

The first notgeld emerged with the outbreak of World War I in 1914 as Germany was immediately faced with a shortage coin. The early issues of notgeld were relatively plain and were generally in lower denominations – such as 25, 50 and 75 pfennig (penny) notes.

As the war progressed, notgeld were issued by both municipalities and private businesses and they became an integral part of the war economy. Some notgeld were also authorized by the Central Bank of Germany, Reichsbank.

As the time progressed these notes became more artistic and began featuring colourful images of everything from romantic folklore to social satire. Some also depict the Anti-Semitic notions of the Nazi Germany.

When in 1923, hyperinflation became drastically high and devalued the economy even more, German government created a new currency called as the ‘Rentenmark’ and hence the production of notgeld came to an end.