75 Pfennig, Neustadt in Holstein, 1921 (political laboratory)
Gutschein v. Neustadt i. Holstein
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This copy
- Accession
- OM-00923
- 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
- 100 × 70.5 mm (±0.5, from the scan)
- Themes
- NotgeldSerienscheinSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig plebisciteSatiricalWeimar Republic
The type
- Type
- 75 Pfennig, Neustadt in Holstein, 1921 (political laboratory)
- Printer
- Not established
- Rarity
- common
Symbology
- "Das politische Laboratorium"
- "The political laboratory" - a satirical interior scene mocking the backroom dealing over the Schleswig border question after the 1920 plebiscite.
- Castle and town with mounted figures
- The back shows a castle-and-town scene with riders beneath a Low-German verse.
- 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 old duchy vote on the Danish- German border and transferred North Schleswig to Denmark. This 75 Pfennig value belongs with 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), [[notgeld-neustadt-holstein-25-pfennig-teilung]] and [[notgeld-neustadt-holstein-50-pfennig]].
The front uses a diagonal-cross layout framing an interior scene captioned Das politische Laboratorium ("the political laboratory") - a satirical dig at the backroom politicking over the border question. The back shows a castle-and-town scene with mounted figures beneath a verse in Low 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 75 Pfennig, Neustadt in Holstein, 1921 (political laboratory) in the collection.
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