75 Pfennig Goch notgeld

This notgeld is from Goch and has the value of 75 Pfennig. It shows the toll keeper shooting at a man with a bag on his back on his way to Holland. The inscription in German reads: 'Es knallt des Zoellners Schiessgewehr, ja, leicht ist's Schmuggeln doch nicht mehr' and translates as: 'The toll keeper’s rifle bangs, smuggling is not too easy any more.' 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.