Series I: Notgeld materials

This album of emergency paper currency measures 14-5/8”x11-5/8”x1-7/8” album with the printed title “Notgeld 1914-1924.” It contains approximately 640 separate pieces of the paper currency (Notgeld) issued by regional institutions in Germany and Austria-Hungary, primarily around the end of the World War I. Not issued by a central bank, Notgeld was not legal tender but rather an accepted means of payment in a particular locale.

The individual pieces on the 46 pages of the album are in excellent condition. They appear to have been acquired strictly for collecting, rather than having been preserved following circulation. Except for some of the items labeled Reichsgeld, they are printed front and back, and in at least three colors, including red, gold, black, green, blue, and shades of each. The size of a typical individual item is 3-9/16”x2-5/16”. The complexity of design in pieces of this small size reveals a high standard of printing.

Not all of the pieces are dated. Of those that are, the earliest are from 1921. Most are from the early 1920’s. The latest is a Reischesgeld dated 1928.

This material was assembled and arranged by a collector and was later acquired by the Fondren Library, pre-1969. Library records do not indicate the exact custodial history of the material such as the name of the collector or terms of transfer to Fondren.