R.O. Blechman Reveals The Lowdown On Notgeld.
In Germany during the early 1920s rampant inflation wreaked havoc on the economy (an American dollar—worth 330 marks in 1921—skyrocketed in 1923 to 4,200,000,000,000 marks… at its zenith, an American dollar was worth 99,000,000,000,000). In an attempt to replace or supplement the increasingly valueless German currency, cities took to printing their own money—notgeld, or emergency money (literally “necessity moneyâ€). Notgeld was usually printed as paper banknotes and was usable only in the municipality where it was issued. Read R.O. Blechman’s article, Order, Disorder and Notgeld on the AIGA blog and have have a look at some of his collection.
A scatological illustration on notgeld from the town of Itzehoe in Holstein.
May 3, 2010