50 Pfennig Oldenburg notgeld with ships and tower in storm

This notgeld is from Oldenburg and has the value of 50 Pfennig. It shows a ship in rough waters during a storm, some sailors are in a life boat going towards a tower on the shore. The inscription in German reads: 'Schleudert den fremden Kiehl der Sturm an Deinen Strand, birgt ihn der Lotsen Schar mit treuer Hand' and translates as: 'If the foreign warrior is swept to your beach by the storm, a cohort of pilots will rescue them with loyal hand'. 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.