50 Pfennig, Gemeinde Husbyholz, 1921

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 much of it had become collector's material - Serienscheine, lithographed sets printed far beyond any local need and illustrated with whatever the place was proud of: a legend, a famous son, a local view, a political grievance. The result is the most inventive body of graphic design in the history of paper money, made as Germany's currency was dying.

Husbyholz is a village in Angeln, the country between the Schlei and the Flensburg Fjord in northern Schleswig. After the First World War the Treaty of Versailles put the future of Schleswig to a plebiscite: the northern first zone voted in February 1920 and went to Denmark, the central second zone - which included this district - voted on 14 March 1920 and stayed German.

This 50-Pfennig note of 1 July 1921 turns that vote into money. The face is a Dutch-style smock windmill, captioned Muehle; the back, Vor der Abstimmung der 2. Zone - Maerz 1920, shows cornucopias spilling Danish bribes over the border, with defiant verses: Mit Speckpaketen und daenischen Kronen sie wollten uns locken... Wir bleiben deutsch in Not und Schmerz, dies hat euch bewiesen der 14. Maerz.