5 Mark, Stadt Oelde, 1921
Gutschein der Stadt Oelde
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This copy
- Accession
- OM-00649
- Series year
- 1921
- Actually issued
- 1921
- Signatures
- This issue carries no bank manager or cashier signature.
- Grade
- XF (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
- $5.5 indicative
Category benchmark scaled for grade — an order of magnitude, not an appraisal. Priced 2026-10-17.
- Dimensions
- 126 × 79.8 mm (±1.1, from the scan)
- Themes
- NotgeldSerienscheinWestphaliaLow GermanWeimar Republic
The type
- Type
- 5 Mark, Stadt Oelde, 1921
- Printer
- Not established
- Rarity
- common
Inscriptions
Gutschein der Stadt Oelde. Dieser Gutschein wird von der Stadt Oelde eingeloest; er verliert seine Gueltigkeit, wenn er nicht binnen Monatsfrist nach erfolgter oeffentlicher Aufforderung zur Einloesung vorgelegt wird.
Voucher of the town of Oelde. This voucher is redeemed by the town of Oelde; it loses its validity if not presented within a month of a public call for redemption.
Symbology
- The town arms
- A crescent and six-pointed star under a mural crown, the arms of Oelde.
- A moonlit night scene
- The reverse carries a Low-German verse over a night view of the town.
What was happening
By 1920 German Notgeld had stopped being a response to a coin shortage and become a collector's product. Towns, districts and firms commissioned decorative Serienscheine - lithographed sets printed far beyond any local need and sold to collectors, illustrated with whatever the place was proud of: a legend, a famous son, a battle, a trade, a joke in dialect. The result is the most inventive body of graphic design in the history of paper money, made in the years when Germany's currency was dying.
Oelde is a small town in the Muensterland of Westphalia. This 5-Mark note - a high value, a sign of how far prices had already run by the summer of 1921 - carries the town arms (a crescent and star beneath a mural crown) and the undertaking of the Gemeindevorstand that the town will redeem it, void a month after it is called in. The reverse is a moonlit night scene with a Low-German verse. Dated 1 July 1921.
This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 5 Mark, Stadt Oelde, 1921 in the collection.
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