Title (79 characters excluding spaces):
1922 Germany Grabow Mecklenburg 50 Pfennig Notgeld Serienschein Vintage Banknote
Front Description:
Genuine German emergency money (Notgeld) voucher denominated 50 Pfennig, issued by the town of Grabow in Mecklenburg, valid until 31 December 1922. Printed in black, orange-red and grey-mauve on buff paper in a decorative Expressionist woodcut style, printed by Faber, Magdeburg (per the imprint at lower left).
The heading, set in bold Fraktur (blackletter) across the top, reads “Notgeld der Stadt Grabow i. Meckl.” (Emergency money of the town of Grabow in Mecklenburg). Below, on orange-red scroll banners resembling rolled paper, the denomination “50 Pf.” appears twice, once on each side of the centre.
At centre is the municipal coat of arms of Grabow within an ornate orange and black cartouche: a crescent moon with three stars on a black field.
Flanking the arms is a rhyming couplet in Low German (Plattdeutsch), split across the two sides: “Fief Groschen schuldt hierför uns’ Stadt,” (Five groschen our town owes for this) at left, and “Beholl den Schiet, denn spoort sei dat.” (Keep the rubbish, then she saves it) at right — a humorous dialect verse typical of the collector-oriented Serienscheine.
Below is the validity line “Gültig bis zum 31. Dezember 1922.” (Valid until 31 December 1922). Beneath this are the issuing authorities with handwritten-style facsimile signatures: “Der Rat der Stadt Grabow:” (The Council of the town of Grabow) at left with signatures, and “Der Stadtverordn.-Vorst.:” (The Chairman of the Town Deputies) at right with a further signature. Additional signatures appear at centre.
Condition (technical): uncirculated or about uncirculated, approximately UNC grade. Bright, fresh colours with no folds, crisp paper and clean edges, with only the faintest handling. Excellent state of preservation typical of collector-saved Serienscheine.
Back Description:
Printed in matching black, orange-red and grey-mauve in the same woodcut style. At left stands a full-length figure of a soldier or town guard in uniform with a tall plumed shako helmet, epaulettes, a shouldered rifle and a drum at his side, framed by tall trees with orange foliage wreaths above.
At right, within a panel, is an engraved panoramic skyline view of the town of Grabow seen across open fields, showing its rooftops and a tall church spire against a pale sky.
Beneath the skyline, on an orange-red panel, is a Low German verse in Fraktur: “Vörn Brand uns’ Grabow so stünn dor — Gäw Gott, dat’s bläuht veel dusend Johr!” (Before the fire our Grabow stood like this — God grant it may flourish many thousand years!) — a reference to a historic town fire.
Below the figure at left is a further dialect inscription on a stone block: “De allergrösste Hochgenuss is doch de Grabowsch Königschuss” (The very greatest delight is indeed the Grabow King’s Shot — a reference to the town’s marksmen’s festival).
At the lower right, on a black banner, is the denomination written out in Low German: “Föftig Penning” (Fifty Pfennig).
Text summary (as transcribed):
Notgeld der Stadt Grabow i. Meckl. (Emergency money of the town of Grabow in Mecklenburg) · 50 Pf. · Fief Groschen schuldt hierför uns’ Stadt, Beholl den Schiet, denn spoort sei dat · Gültig bis zum 31. Dezember 1922 · Der Rat der Stadt Grabow · Der Stadtverordn.-Vorst. · FABER, MAGDEBURG (printer) · Vörn Brand uns’ Grabow so stünn dor — Gäw Gott, dat’s bläuht veel dusend Johr! · De allergrösste Hochgenuss is doch de Grabowsch Königschuss · Föftig Penning (Fifty Pfennig)
Estimated Era:
Confirmed as valid until 31 December 1922, issued by the town of Grabow in Mecklenburg, Weimar Germany, with the design dating to 1921–22. This is a Serienschein — one of the artistically designed small-denomination Notgeld series notes produced in large numbers in 1920–22, often printed primarily for sale to collectors rather than for genuine circulation, which accounts for the superb condition in which they typically survive. The Grabow series draws on local themes: the town’s coat of arms, its skyline before a historic fire, its marksmen’s festival, and verses in the Mecklenburg Low German dialect. The 50 Pfennig denomination places it in the pre-hyperinflation phase of the Weimar period, before denominations escalated into millions and milliards during 1923.
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