10 Pfennig, Stadt Münchenbernsdorf, 1921
Notgeld der Stadt Münchenbernsdorf
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This copy
- Accession
- OM-00575
- Series year
- 1921
- Actually issued
- 1921
- Signatures
- This issue carries no bank manager or cashier signature.
- Grade
- UNC (IBNS)
Estimated from the archival scan. Folds, soiling and edge condition are visible at this resolution; paper crispness, pinholes, small repairs and pressing are not.
- Estimated value
- $10 indicative
Category benchmark scaled for grade — an order of magnitude, not an appraisal. Priced 2026-10-09.
- Dimensions
- 81.9 × 62.2 mm (±1.6, from the scan)
- Themes
- NotgeldSerienscheinThuringiaLegendCanting armsWeimar Republic
The type
- Type
- 10 Pfennig, Stadt Münchenbernsdorf, 1921
- Printer
- Hofdruckerei Gerth & Oppenrieder, Gera (Reuß)
- Rarity
- common
Inscriptions
Notgeld der Stadt Münchenbernsdorf. Zehn Pfennig. Der Zeitpunkt mit dem die Gültigkeit abläuft wird in der hiesigen Allgemeinen Zeitung bekannt gemacht. Münchenbernsdorf i. Thür., den 1. September 1921. Der Stadtgemeindevorstand.
Emergency money of the town of Münchenbernsdorf. Ten pfennig. The date on which validity ends will be announced in the local general newspaper. Münchenbernsdorf in Thuringia, 1 September 1921. The town council.
Symbology
- The monk of Münchenbernsdorf (canting arms)
- A monk in a Gothic niche: a pun on the town's name (Mönch = monk) and its old black-monk arms. The name actually derives from the medieval von Münch family, not a monastery — the note plays on the heraldry rather than the history.
- The court session and the Sage vom Advokatensteig
- The reverse illustrates a local legend of the "Advocate's path" as a courtroom scene; the story itself is preserved only in regional Heimat literature. The note treats it as a civic in-joke — "many a wise verdict was written into the record-book".
- Expiry by newspaper notice
- No printed expiry date: the note would simply lapse whenever the town announced it in the local paper — a flexible redemption clause typical of municipal Notgeld.
What was happening
Münchenbernsdorf is a town in eastern Thuringia, south-west of Gera, known as a Thuringian "carpet town" — mechanical carpet-weaving was introduced here in 1882 and the industry still works. It issued decorative Serienscheine in 1921, dated 1 September, printed by the Hofdruckerei Gerth & Oppenrieder of Gera.
The front of this 10-Pfennig note shows "Der Mönch von Münchenbernsdorf" — the monk of Münchenbernsdorf — a robed figure standing in a Gothic niche, over "zehn Pfennig" and "Notgeld der Stadt Münchenbernsdorf". The monk is a visual pun on the town's name (Mönch = monk) and its old arms, which showed a black monk; the name in fact comes not from any monk but from the medieval von Münch family and their moated castle. Signed by the town council (Stadtgemeinde- vorstand) over the mayor's signature, dated 1 September 1921.
The reverse depicts "Die Gerichts-Sitzung" — a court session — under the banner Münchenbernsdorf und die Sage vom Advokatensteig ("Münchenbernsdorf and the legend of the Advocate's path"), with the couplet So mancher weise Richterspruch / Ward inscripiert ins Aktenbuch ("many a wise verdict was written into the record-book"). The legend behind it survives only in local Thuringian Heimat literature and is not otherwise documented; the note records it without telling the story.
This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 10 Pfennig, Stadt Münchenbernsdorf, 1921 in the collection.
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