First Notgeld Purchase

I've been eyeing the Notgeld notes for a long time and last week I sprang for a group of them. They arrived today.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

What a nice selection! I really like them too, have eyed some myself in the past but never made the leap. too many interests to take on another one. I'm glad to see them here and to learn about them from people who share them on CT.

 

Thanks. I know very little (almost nothing) about them but I found them interesting because they are so varied in their designs. I don't know how deep I'll get into collecting them but this first batch will be fun to examine.

 

Great notes.
I too have picked up some...a bit over 1000
They just look so cool and what great colors.

 

I bought 50 (actually received 53) just to see what they're like. I agree, The colors and graphics are pretty neat!

 

how are they printed? were they printed on letterpress, screen, litho/off-set litho? The designs lend to that craftsman's appeal of traditional woodcut but I was never sure how these were printed. I'm pretty sure lettow has some threads on them and of course much knowledge about them too!

 

http://www.cointalk.com/t50484/
http://www.cointalk.com/t111948/

 

This is a nice assortment of German Serienscheine and Austrian notgeld. You only need about 175,000+ more German notes to complete the collection.

Most German notgeld was lithographed, off-set or screened. I don't think I have ever seen any that were printed any other way.

 

Thanks, lettow! 175,000 eh? I guess I'll have to stock up on shoe boxes.

 

Thanks for the printing info.

 

It helps if you read German. I have about 50 assorted German and Austrian myself. Thanks for the confirmation on the printing. They seemed litho offset rather than cold type and plates, but I never investigated that rigorously.

The wide (wild) range in styles, themes, and is testimony to the creativity of the designers and producers. The creation of these "community currencies" also forced basic questions in monetary theory as even both Karl Marx and Ludwig von Mises agreed on the superiority of gold as commodity money. In America, Yale economist IRVING FISHER understood the theory and practice.

And you know, a lot of the chromatic contrast comes from the heavy use of black: says a lot. America has never lost a war. Something to think about.

 

I like that bottom one alot.

And it looks like I am down to only needing 174,000 more to finish the set...phew...sounds like too many lol

 

Guess that going through the history of war, and asking whether there is nothing between "winning" and "losing", would probably not make much sense here ... but what exactly is the connection between black and war? I don't quite get it.

That focuses on naturism. The text around the oval means "Return to nature" and "One lot of prevention is better than ten pounds of rehab" ...

Christian

 

On ikandiggit's notes, I really like the Gutschein 50 pf with the owl. It looks to be the size and shape of a playing card. Those are some really cool notes!

 

I think they were depressed. Maybe black ink was just cheaper and did provide nice contrast for the colors, but these were not happy times and happy people. And yes, I agree 100% that there can be not much difference between winning and losing. War is always a waste of resources.

 

Interesting - I have always found those notgeld notes to be very colorful (by and large, that is). Right, those were hard times; on the other hand, especially the later notgeld issues often had attractive designs, often with bright colors and local and/or amusing scenes. Partly because the issuing cities hoped that at least some people would keep and not redeem them ...

Christian

 

I agree 100% It is unfortunate that we do not have more private issues circulating and those that do try to mimic government money. I was disappointed in the way Traverse City Bay Bucks turned out (official site here) though I tried to put the best spin on it (here).

Notgeld is a large and complex subject. Do you have any suggestions for a collecting theme? I mean, you could do it by City and be focused there. But I was wondering how other people have done this, except to pursue one of each 175,000...

 

Here's a site that may help identify some of the notgeld that you have. It may also give you some ideas on how to collect them and some general history. http://www.dmoz.org/Recreation/Collecting/Paper_Money/Notgeld/

LSM

 

Thanks for the link!

I'll probably buy a few lots first before deciding what direction to go with collecting. The notes are so varied and there are a lot that I really like because of the graphics. I think, at this point, it'll be just a collection of cool looking designs.

 

Hard to tell for me where/why such "local money" or complemetary currency works and where it does not. In the German state where I live (NW, pop. about 18 million) there is hardly anything in that regard. In Southern Bavaria however, close to Austria, the Chiemgauer seems to be quite successful. This is not notgeld, of course, but it is local or regional too.

The Chiemgauer "notes" expire after three months but their validity can be extended; this way you lose 2%. The obverse designs are ho-hum in my opinion, but some of the reverse designs are very nice. Nowadays you can even use a Chiemgauer debit card - regional money in the plastic age.

Interestingly, in Anglo-Saxon media those regional money initiatives in the euro area are sometimes "abused" in the sense of, look how these people do not want the euro. Too bad for the Daily Telegraph etc. that there were or are similar projects in £ or $ communities ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/6692755.stm (Totnes, UK)
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=2903049 (Southern Berkshire, US)

I don't actually collect notgeld (just have a few issues), but yes, it would be a lifetime job to "hunt" them all. Maybe focus on a specific city or county? What could also work - especially with the earlier notes that were not inflation money but issued due to the lack of small change - is collecting one denomination (say 50 Pfennig) notes only. Or ... collect what you find attractive, and accept that your collection will never be complete.

Christian