50 Pfennig Oldenburg notgeld with ship

This notgeld is from Oldenburg and has the value of 50 Pfennig. It shows a ship in rough waters. The inscription in German reads: 'Mutig Dein Wimpel fleucht durch alle Meere, wohin dein Krieger zeucht, zollt man ihm Ruhm und Ehre' and translates as: 'Your pennant travels across all seas, wherever your warrior goes he is famed and honoured'. It is a line from the Oldenburg anthem. 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.