Weimar Germany, Meissen Municipal Public Library, Porcelain Token

Includes glass top leatherette display box.

• Origin: Germany, Weimar Republic
• Authority: Meissen Municipal Public Library
• Date: 1923 CE
• Denomination: Porcelain token
• Mint: Staatliche Porzellanmanufaktur, Meissen, Germany
• Size: 40mm
• Obverse: Städtische Volksbücherei Meissen - An open book with numbers on the pages, rampant lion above, Meissen crossed swords below.
• Reverse: An eagle in flight, left, with cherub riding upon it while holding an olive branch in each hand.
• Notes: Notgeld (German for “emergency money”) was a special currency that was originally issued in Germany and Austria to deal with the economic crisis and hyperinflation caused by World War I. Unlike official currency, these coins and paper bills weren’t issued by the central bank but by local municipalities, private companies, state-owned firms, and town savings banks. As a result, they weren’t legal tender but were accepted within local communities by mutual agreement. While many notgeld were issued specifically as emergency money, some were also issued for collectors during less inflationary periods. Porcelain notgeld served as a substitute for real silver and gold coins in the postwar period, but their fragility and the Reichsbank’s refusal to recognize unofficial currencies led to their decline by 1922.

All purchases include a Certificate of Authenticity. You will receive the exact item in the photos.