25 Pfennig, Neustadt in Holstein, 1921 (partition of Schleswig)

Gutschein v. Neustadt i. Holstein

Reverse of 25 Pfennig, Neustadt in Holstein, 1921 (partition of Schleswig) — Reverse 600 dpi

This copy

Accession: OM-00854
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 2026-10-24.
Dimensions: 80.3 × 54.2 mm (±0.5, from the scan)
Themes: Notgeld Serienschein Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig plebiscite Patriotic Weimar Republic

The type

Type: 25 Pfennig, Neustadt in Holstein, 1921 (partition of Schleswig)
Printer: Not established
Rarity: common

Neustadt in HolsteinGermany, 1920 borders

Symbology

Two soldiers over a map of Schleswig: An allegory of the 1920 Schleswig plebiscite, captioned "Schleswig's resistance to forcible partition" and "the separation of North Schleswig, 1920"; the map names the disputed towns Flensburg, Apenrade and Tondern.
"Gedenke, daß du ein Deutscher bist": "Remember that you are a German" - a patriotic line set over the Jungfernstieg avenue on the back, a response to the loss of North Schleswig to Denmark.
Validity to 31 July 1921: The note is stated to be good until 31 July 1921 - emergency money designed from the outset to lapse.

What was happening

Notgeld ("emergency money") began in 1914 out of necessity but by 1920-21 had become a collector craze: towns issued lithographed Serienscheine far beyond any local need and sold them to collectors for real marks. Neustadt in Holstein, a small Baltic harbour town on the Lübeck Bay, used its series to make a political point.

The whole Neustadt set is a patriotic Schleswig-Holstein commentary on the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, which under the Treaty of Versailles let the population of the old duchy vote on the Danish-German border and transferred North Schleswig to Denmark. This 25 Pfennig value joins the town's other patriotic notes: [[notgeld-neustadt-holstein-25-pfennig]] (the "Up ewig ungedeelt" / Christian I note), [[notgeld-neustadt-holstein-25-pfennig-patriot]] (the satirical "patriot" boy) and [[notgeld-neustadt-holstein-50-pfennig]].

The front shows two soldiers struggling over a map of Schleswig - Flensburg, Apenrade, Tondern and the other disputed towns marked on it - captioned Schleswigs Sträuben gegen gewaltsame Teilung ("Schleswig's resistance to forcible partition"), Sinnbild der Treue ("emblem of loyalty") and Abtrennung Nord-Schleswigs 1920 ("the separation of North Schleswig, 1920"). The back shows the Jungfernstieg avenue under the line Gedenke, daß du ein Deutscher bist ("Remember that you are a German"). It was valid until 31 July 1921 and signed by Bürgermeister Rehr and Stadtverordnetenvorsteher Ehlers.

This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 25 Pfennig, Neustadt in Holstein, 1921 (partition of Schleswig) in the collection.

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