50 Pfennig Altona notgeld

This notgeld is from Altona and has the value of 50 Pfennig. The inscription in German reads: 'Ob Nationol, Ob Soziol, Ob Volkspartei, Ob Demokrot, Datt Is As Börger Ganz Egol, Helpt Kräftig Unsern Magistrot' and translates as: Whether national, social, People's Party or Democrat, the citizen does not care at all. All should help our municipality. (dialect)' This is one of sixty notgeld or 'emergency money' banknotes in the reference collection of packaging material which belonged to the designer Charles Hasler. Notgeld were produced by German towns, villages and municipalities from the end of the First World War until the mid 1920s, when the state bank (the Reichsbank), struggled with wartime metal shortages and post- war hyperinflation. The highly decorative notes soon became collectors items - and still remain to this day. They are double-sided and printed with their monetary value, information about the village, town or province of issue and some colourful illustration.