50 Pfennig, Wittenberge, 1921 (Elbbrücke)
Gutschein des Schutzverbandes für Handel und Gewerbe Wittenberge
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This copy
- Accession
- OM-00770
- Series year
- 1921
- Actually issued
- 1921
- Signatures
- This issue carries no bank manager or cashier signature.
- Grade
- VF (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. Grade applied uniformly across this batch pending individual review.
- Estimated value
- $3 indicative
Category benchmark scaled for grade — an order of magnitude, not an appraisal. Priced 2026-10-24.
- Dimensions
- 105.5 × 72 mm (±0.5, from the scan)
- Themes
- NotgeldSerienscheinWeimar RepublicBrandenburgTown view
The type
- Type
- 50 Pfennig, Wittenberge, 1921 (Elbbrücke)
- Printer
- Gebr. Parcus, München
- Rarity
- common
Symbology
- The shared obverse: civic arms and issuer line
- Common to all six notes: the Wittenberge civic arms - a red shield bearing a towered castle, an eagle finial and a mural crown - with the value "50 Pf.", the serial, and the issuer line "Gutschein d. Schutzverbandes für Handel u. Gewerbe Wittenberge", the historical note "Wittenberge wird urkundlich zuerst 1265 als Stadt erwähnt.", and a statement that it is not legal tender and valid only with member businesses.
- Reverse building: "Elbbrücke"
- A captioned view of the bridge across the Elbe at Wittenberge, labelled "Elbbrücke"; offset-printed by Gebr. Parcus, München.
What was happening
Notgeld began in 1914 out of necessity: coin vanished into hoards within weeks of mobilisation and towns printed their own small change because the Reichsbank could not supply enough.
By 1920 it had become something else. The shortage was easing but the collector market was not, and an issuer could take real marks for paper it hoped would never be presented. So towns, firms and clubs commissioned Serienscheine: lithographed sets, printed far beyond any local need, illustrated with whatever the place was proud of - a legend, a famous son, a building, a view. 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.
Wittenberge is a town in the Prignitz, on the right bank of the Elbe in the north-west corner of Brandenburg - an industrial place, known for its railway works, its oil mill and its Singer sewing-machine factory. This 50-Pfennig set was issued not by the city but by the Schutzverband für Handel und Gewerbe - the local trade and commerce protective association - as a Gutschein redeemable only among its member businesses and expressly not legal tender. Every note carries the Wittenberge civic arms and the proud line Wittenberge wird urkundlich zuerst 1265 als Stadt erwähnt - Wittenberge is first documented as a town in 1265 - and the reverses show the town building by building, in offset by Gebr. Parcus of Munich.
This note shows the Elbbrücke, the bridge over the Elbe. It belongs to the set of six with the [[notgeld-wittenberge-50-pfennig-rathaus]], [[notgeld-wittenberge-50-pfennig-lyceum]], [[notgeld-wittenberge-50-pfennig-alter-turm]], [[notgeld-wittenberge-50-pfennig-buergerschule]] and [[notgeld-wittenberge-50-pfennig-realgymnasium]].
This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 50 Pfennig, Wittenberge, 1921 (Elbbrücke) in the collection.
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