Notgeld and the dawn of the notaphilist

Discussion in 'Paper Money' started by Drusus, Nov 30, 2007.

  1. Drusus

    Drusus Pecunia non olet

    While doing research on some of the notgeld bills I collect I soon realized that many of the bills (more the bill than the coins) were often printed but never circulated as currency. Within the bounds of the city or town they were printed in, most were issued with a denomination and most would have been usable as circulation currency, but they werent. Why werent they? because as soon as they appeared on the scene they became collectors items. I have notgeld dedicated to the collection of notgeld, I have a notgeld album, issued contemporary to the issuance of notgeld for the storage of collected bills. So it is obvious that while these bill were being issued, they had already become collectors items and people would collect and buy these notgeld albums to store them in.

    Bills, like with the coins, you get both types...I have examples of heavily circulated notgeld bills and coins...so there is no doubt that many were used.

    But it seems that collecting these notes became very popular at the time. In fact...the collection of these bills were so popular in Germany (and later around the world) that this time period is referred to what one might call the golden age or the real dawn of the practice of collecting bank notes.

    Now I am not saying that Notaphilia started at this time, but never before had SO MANY people taken interest in collecting bank notes, and those people would go on to broaden their interests in later years, once the hard times lifted...and even pass the interest along to new generations.

    There is such a wide variety of notgeld with such a wide gamut of themes, one could collect banknotes from just Germany and still easily fill a whole Notgeld Album, never collecting anything but german emergency issues. Many of these issues are called 'serienscheine' or Series Notes. Notes printed primarily to be collected and as a way for poor and decimated towns and cities to generate a bit of revenue. The themes and quality of art work on these bills vary widely from simple cartoons to wonderful works of art, scenery, sociopolitical themes, illustrated stories, you name it, it was probably put on a notgeld bill...these bills, when you translate them (some are hard because they are printed in local dialects) they often have funny little sayings, some are down right frightening with anti Semitic messages on them (showing the state of mind of the German people even this early regarding this issue), again...the subject of what is printed on them both image and inscriptions touches on all aspects of the life and times..

    So, while the systematic collection of banknotes, or what would be known as notaphilia, didnt not begin during this time as certainly there were probably already some people in the world who had thought of collecting bills. At this time, the number of bank note collectors skyrocketed, it became a popular passtime in Germany, then Europe, and then the world as the practice of collecting, saving, and preserving bills spread and what was collected expanded from notgeld to all forms of paper currency. Collecting bills was never so popular and possibly has never been as popular as it was in Germany at this time.

    A few examples out just to illustrate, mind you I have many many many more that are very interesting...and I only have a small fraction...its hard to just pick a small example because so many of them are so interesting:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I also have a notgeld album from the time...I just havent taken a photo of it yet.
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Daggarjon

    Daggarjon Supporter**

    those are so awsome!!!! thanks for posting :D

    i dont think i have any notegeld. But im not certain. I have always been weary about buying them just becasue i was always afraid of buying something that was claimed to be - but wasnt. But i have my krause books ... so....
     
  4. RickieB

    RickieB Expert Plunger Sniper

    I second that motion on the awesome!!

    Everytime I go to Germany I always mean to look for some of those in the small towns I visit there!
    Beautiful notes Drusus..:thumb:

    RickieB
     
  5. Daggarjon

    Daggarjon Supporter**

    i am so jealous!!!! i really need to travel outside the USA (and i dont mean Canada) :)
     
  6. RickieB

    RickieB Expert Plunger Sniper

    Hey Daggerjohn...don't be becuase when I go it is for work..LOL

    I work for this company www.dasgip.com as it's Business Development Manager in the USA division.
    When I go to Germany our schedule is so packed full of work, I seldom get to hunt down coins or currency.
    Perhaps this year I will try a different approach.

    RickieB
     
  7. LSM

    LSM Collector

    I picked these Notgelds and some others at a flee market in Hallendale Florida back in 2000. The gentleman that was selling them had hundreds of them, as a matter of fact thats all he had.

    Lou
     

    Attached Files:

  8. LSM

    LSM Collector

    Here's a few more.

    Lou
     

    Attached Files:

  9. De Orc

    De Orc Well-Known Member

    Great write up Drusus, I love Notgeld notes, some of the artwork is fantastic and yes some of it is plain boring LOL but each note is packed with the social history of the period :smile Still have a pile to scan German & Austrian and am allways on the lookout for more
     
  10. Daggarjon

    Daggarjon Supporter**

    yep! cool notes LSM!!!
     
  11. chrisild

    chrisild Coin Collector

    That one is really funny. "I, Heinrich Appel, issue this notgeld in order to make up for the lack of small change in my house" ... And on the other side: "The end of the validity period will be announced 24 hours in advance by ringing a bell on the market. It is best to not accept this money at all since it is not covered by anything but my honest face. Any imitation is considered mean. More than one million will not be issued."

    :D Christian
     
  12. Daggarjon

    Daggarjon Supporter**

    roflmao .. not that is an honest politician :D

    i luv these notegeld. when i get some more numismatic funds, i will have to look into some :)

    thansk for posting!!
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page