Westphalia Notgeld

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by furryfrog02, Aug 19, 2021.

  1. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Per Wikipedia:

    In 1922, inflation started to get out of control in Germany, culminating in hyperinflation. Throughout the year, the value of the mark deteriorated faster and faster and new money in higher denominations was issued constantly. The Reichsbank could not cope with the logistics of providing the necessary supply of money, and Notgeld was again issued—this time in denominations of hundreds and then thousands of Marks.

    By July 1923, the Reichsbank had lost control of the economy. Notgeld flooded the economy, being issued by any city, town, business, or club that had access to a printing press, in order to meet the insatiable rise in prices. Even Serienscheine were being hand-stamped with large denominations to meet the demand. By September, Notgeld was denominated in the tens of millions; by October, in billions; by November, trillions.

    The notgeld from Westphalia has interested me for awhile for its large sizes and massive denominations. In the span of two years, they went from values of 50 Pfennig to 1 billion Marks. In the last year, 1923, they rapidly increased from hundreds to billions. In February of 1923, 500 Marks could not buy a loaf of bread.

    I so far have acquired 7 different types of Westphalia notgeld but there are still plenty more to go. Trying to collect these on a budget can be difficult.

    If you have any other denominations that aren't shown here. Please feel free to share them. Thanks for looking!

    1921
    Westphalia Notgeld
    50 Pfennig
    Aluminum
    24mm/1.29g
    Mintage: 258,023
    1921 Westphalia 50 Pfennig.png


    1921
    Westphalia Notgeld
    5 Marks
    Aluminum
    32mm/3.50g
    Mintage: 120,753 1921 Westphalia 5 Mark.png


    1921
    Westphalia Notgeld
    10 Marks
    Bronze
    38mm/19g
    Mintage: 116,489
    1921 Westphalia 10 Mark.png


    1922
    Westphalia Notgeld
    500 Marks
    Tombac
    38mm/19.4g
    Mintage: 57,593
    1922 Westphalia 500 Mark.png


    1923
    Westphalia Notgeld
    500 Marks
    Tombac
    38.3mm/19.48g
    Mintage: 65,117
    1923 Westphalia 500 Mark.png


    1923
    Westphalia Notgeld
    10,000 Marks
    Tombac
    44.5mm/31.7g
    Mintage: 315,809
    1923 Westphalia 10000 Mark.png


    1923
    Westphalia Notgeld
    50,000,000 Marks
    Aluminum
    44mm/8g
    Mintage: 78,464
    1923 Westphalia 50 Million Mark.png
     
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  3. yakpoo

    yakpoo Member

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  4. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    A Great collection so far & I too had to look up Tombac.
     
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  5. DEA

    DEA Well-Known Member

    Nice collection! I've the 100 mark.

    mark-100-1922-Westfalen-f645.1.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    Seascape, The Eidolon and furryfrog02 like this.
  6. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    These are fun. I have one of the 10K-mark pieces. Nice great big thing.

    You've gotta love that prancing horsie. Giddyup!

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. Oldhoopster

    Oldhoopster Member of the ANA since 1982

    IMG_20190805_112722_kindlephoto-339266705.jpg Older pic of Zippy Kitty with her Westphalia 50 Millionen Mark notgeld
     
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  8. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Good stuff. Glad I'm not the only one who likes these horsey-bucks :)

    Hopefully I can track down some of the higher denominations. Trying to keep it ~$10 per coin is definitely difficult.
     
    yakpoo likes this.
  9. Chris B

    Chris B Supporter! Supporter

    Here is one of the 50 Million

    GerNotgeld192315.jpg
     
  10. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Nice. That doesn't look like aluminum like mine is.
     
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  11. Chris B

    Chris B Supporter! Supporter

    I saw your aluminum one and didn't pay attention to the denomination. Mine is actually a Gilt Bronze. I didn't realize they made them in multiple compositions.
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  12. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

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  13. Siberian Man

    Siberian Man Senior Member

  14. stlnats

    stlnats Active Member

    A fun series to put together. Here's my "Bio-mark"
    upload_2021-8-23_6-33-50.jpeg
    upload_2021-8-23_6-34-14.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2021
  15. stlnats

    stlnats Active Member

    Also there's a related set of paper money featuring the notgeld coins in the design.

    upload_2021-8-23_6-39-21.jpeg
    upload_2021-8-23_6-39-45.jpeg
     
  16. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

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  17. Stevearino

    Stevearino Well-Known Member

    I would have had to look up Tombac if I hadn't started collecting Canadian nickels decades ago. Until today I didn't realize it had been used in other countries.

    My father brought back a 50 million aluminum "Prancing horse" from his time in Germany during WW II but it's buried somewhere in the black hole I call my office.

    Steve
     
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  18. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    Man that dude has a nose on him huh. Oh, by the way, Nice coins.
     
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  19. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    It's pretty Roman-esque. Reminds me a bit of Emperor Nerva:
    Nerva, Denarius, Aequitas.png
     
    Chris B likes this.
  20. stldanceartist

    stldanceartist Minister of Silly Walks

    Ah, yes - reminds me of this coin I was REALLY excited to pick up. Wanted to keep it in my collection because I really enjoyed the design, and the condition was gem (much better than the worn examples I typically saw.)

    Sent it in to NGC and had my hopes and dreams crushed...

    ...not because of the grade, mind you - it came back in an MS65 slab.

    No, my day was ruined because the coin came back different than when I sent it in.

    The color temp is a bit different (photographer's fault - me) but see if you can "spot" why I wasn't happy with the coin I got back from NGC.

    Before

    Germany (Westphalia Notgeld) - 1923 10000 Marks.jpg

    After

    Germany (Westphalia) - 1923 10000 Marks Notgeld NGC MS65.jpg

    In case anyone asks, yes, I did call NGC to complain, and while I don't remember exactly what their response was, I do remember their attitude was basically "not our fault, not our problem, have a nice day."
     
  21. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    What's up with that black dot behind his head????
     
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