Meissen Notgeld:

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Ceramic Currency in a Time of Economic Catastrophe

Written by Richard E. Brown

I
n the aftermath of the First World War much of Germany’s paper money had been From Left: 1. Tönendes
Erz Liebe bescherts 10
pessimism hung over Meissen with almost hoarded, purchased by currency speculators, or Mark Coin (obverse)
palpable heaviness. Yet in the pockets of smuggled ‘abroad to avoid heavy taxes on capital’ Meissen Factory, 1921,
porcelain, gilt, 39 x 4 mm.
the city’s inhabitants, clinking as they (“Hoarders,” 1921: 237). Exacerbating the 2. Sachsen 10 Mark
walked the depressed streets, unusual situation was legislation passed in 1919 requiring Coin (obverse),
Meissen Factory, 1921,
evidence of Germany’s persistent spirit of that Banks officially disclose the stock-and- Böttger stoneware,
innovation hinted that its industry would prove bond portfolios of their customers, a measure gilt, 26 x 2.5 mm.
resilient, despite the economic catastrophe that ‘caused heavy selling of securities and the
gripping the nation. From 1921 to 1922, the hoarding of paper money’ (Friedman, 1922: 275).
famed Meissen Porcelain Manufactory produced Together, the wholesale removal of coinage and
some of history’s most distinctive and attractive paper money from circulation meant
coinage from the stoneware and porcelain clay that, short of bartering, there was no practical
bodies on which the factory had founded its way to conduct economic transactions in
reputation more than two hundred years earlier. much of Germany.
In 1919, fearing the economic consequences of The solution devised by many local
reparation imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, governments to address the dire shortage
citizens of Germany began hoarding every gold of currency was to issue notgeld, literally
and silver coin they could acquire. ‘emergency money’, fashioned from unusual
Since nearly all coins of copper and nickel materials such as coal, silk, wood, and ceramic.
had been melted down for production of Unlike the Papiermark, Germany’s national
weapons and other military equipment currency from 1914 to 1924, notgeld was not
during the last desperate days of the war, by backed by the Federal Government and was thus
1921 virtually no German coinage remained valid only in the municipalities in which it was
in circulation (Röntgen, 1984). In addition, issued. Although, in 1919 the Meissen factory

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Above from Left: submitted to the German Finance Ministry a and the ease with which Meissen could begin
1. Ludwig Richter Fest
10 Martin Luther,
proposal for a national emergency coinage in the creating porcelain and stoneware coins to
Eisenach 1 Mark Coin form of a seven-piece sample set of stoneware serve in that capacity. He selected Emile Paul
(obverse), 1921, Böttger
stoneware, 30 x 2.5 mm.
coins ranging in denomination from 10 pfennigs Börner, employed at the factory since 1911 as
2. Ludwig Richter Fest to 5 marks, the idea was ultimately rejected by a freischaffender Künstler, or free-lance artist
10 Mark Coin (obverse),
Meissen Factory, 1921,
the Reichsbank as impractical (Ringleb, 1986: (Lechelt, 2011: 108), to develop the designs for
porcelain, gilt, 39 x 4 mm. 42). Some German businesses, however, issued these coins, which would be cast in both white
3. Sachsen 2 Mark Coin
(obverse), Meissen
notgeld for use exclusively on their premises, bisque porcelain (descended from the first
Factory, 1921, Böttger often with surprising success (Röntgen, 1984: hard-paste European porcelain created at the
stoneware, 26 x 2.5 mm.
213). The earliest such ceramic example, issued factory by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus
during the war itself, was a 10 pfennig token in 1708) and reddish-brown Böttger stoneware.
produced in 1917 by the Ph. Rosenthal & Co. Invented in the early years of the 18th century
porcelain factory in Selb for its own operations by the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger as a
(Ringleb, 1986: 40). The issuance of notgeld by-product of his search for a porcelain formula,
only in small denominations meant that people the original stoneware recipe was revived and
tended to spend the emergency currency rather modified slightly before it was employed in the
than hoard it, thus ensuring the continuation production of notgeld.

From 1921 to 1922 the famed Meissen Porcelain

Manufactory produced some of history’s
most distinctive and attractive coinage.

of everyday commercial transactions essential Durability of both the porcelain and the
to the overall vitality of the German economy. stoneware coins was a primary concern, so
It also proved beneficial to manufacturers such all Meissen notgeld designs incorporated
as the Meissen factory, which met the need raised rims and concave faces. These features
for notgeld through the production of ceramic protected the relief elements of the coins from
coins, and in the process acquired significant scratches and other damage. Some coins were
revenue to support their general operations. molded with beaded rims that would enhance
The idea for a Meissen-produced notgeld their appearance and connect them visually to
originated with Max Adolf Pfeiffer, the factory’s the precious-metal coinage that had virtually
prescient director. An avid coin collector, disappeared from circulation.
Pfeiffer recognized both the need for notgeld Three categories of motifs were commonly
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 ... due to their novelty and the
value adhering to them through the
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Meissen factory reputation, notgeld

coins were hoarded by collectors
and tourists. Ironically, this led to
a shortage of emergency money.

employed on Meissen notgeld: humans, these are as wonderfully conceived, as others are Sachsen 10 Mark
Coin (reverse),
architecture, and agricultural products. Given undeniably heavy handed or overly stylized. Meissen Factory, 1921,
the predominance of human figures on earlier A bust portrait of Martin Luther proved Böttger stoneware,
gilt, 26 x 2.5 mm.
metal coins, it is not surprising that Börner to be one of the Meissen factory’s most
chose to incorporate these into many of his popular notgeld designs. Created for the city
designs. He no doubt gravitated to such specific of Eisenach’s Luther celebrations in 1921 (the
subjects as cherubs because of his previous work 400-year anniversary of the Diet of Worms), the
as a sculptor for Meissen, though he looked coins were cast in Böttger stoneware in a run of
for stylistic inspiration from contemporary 154,000. Sold to visitors from around the world
Clockwise from Top
developments in decorative art rather than for one mark apiece, they served to support both Left: 1. Boldixum auf
to neoclassical precedents of the 18th and the festival and the town of Eisenach (Ringleb, Föhr 50 Pfennig Coin
(obverse), n.d., Böttger
early 19th centuries. Heavily influenced by the 1986: 43). Another commonly occurring design stoneware, 22 x 2.5 mm.
Art Deco movement, Börner’s designs were element on notgeld was architecture. Since 2. Sachsen 2 Mark Coin
(reverse), Meissen
considered highly successful by some, but city governments issued most notgeld coins, Factory, 1921, Böttger
frowned upon by others – particularly collectors designs often featured such local landmarks stoneware, 26 x 2.5 mm.
3. Martin Luther,
of more traditional coins. The Numismatist, as clock towers and castles. Some businesses, Eisenach 1 Mark Coin
an American magazine of the time, lambasted including Henry Seligmann’s department store (reverse), 1921, Böttger
stoneware, 30 x 2.5 mm.
examples of Meissen’s notgeld for ‘an entire in Hannover, also featured building designs on 4. Stadt Gotha 50
absence of artistic effect’ and a modeling that Meissen-commissioned notgeld. The obverse Pfenning Coin
(obverse), 1921, Böttger
made them ‘almost hideous’ (Duffield, 1921: of the token created for Seligmann’s included stoneware, 23 x 3 mm.
294). Despite such criticism, Börner created an image of a castle, a symbol of the city of 5. Boldixum auf Föhr
50 Pfennig Coin
an astonishing number of designs, perhaps ‘well Hannover. Agricultural products, while rarely (reverse), n.d., Böttger
over a thousand’ (Walcha, 1981: 204). Some of the highlights of notgeld, appear frequently as stoneware, 22 x 2.5 mm.

138—139
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supplementary elements. Wheat is a mainstay became so rapid that people ultimately

of Börner’s coin designs due to its importance as abandoned money and began bartering in
a staple crop in many regions of the country. At physical goods. Prices increased every half-
the Meissen factory’s cafe, where tokens were hour at restaurants, and it was actually more
used to purchase coffee, notgeld depicted two cost effective to burn paper currency than to
heads of wheat and a coffee bean. In a design for spend it on firewood. In this economic abyss,
the city of Grünberg, two pears dominate the the German people desperately sought to
reverse of the 75-pfennig notgeld coin. purchase goods with the potential of retaining
The ceramic notgeld produced at Meissen at least part of their value through their
and other German factories in the early 1920s scarcity and desirability. Unfortunately, one
held certain advantages over metal coinage, such commodity, the ceramic notgeld coinage
such as ease of cleaning and freedom from produced by the famed Meissen factory, had
corrosion. The latter trait was undoubtedly disappeared from the market a year too soon. n
a factor that induced the government of
Guatemala, where experiments with rubber
coinage had apparently proved unsatisfactory
as a solution to the adverse effects of a humid
climate, to commission Meissen porcelain coins References
Hoarders of certain German 50-mark
in 1921 (Duffield, 1921: 295). However, the bills may sustain loss. (1921, July 16). The
disadvantages of porcelain and stoneware coins Commercial and Financial Chronicle, 237.
outweighed the advantages. They were said to Duffield, F. G. (1921, July). Will the use of porcelain
chip or break easily during use. tokens become general? * The Numismatist: An
Illustrated Monthly Magazine For Those Interested
Moreover, due to their novelty and the value In Coins, Medals, and Paper Money, 34(7), 294-5.
adhering to them through the Meissen factory Friedman, E. M. (1922). International Finance and its
Reorganization. New York, NY: E. P. Dutton and Co.
reputation, porcelain and stoneware notgeld * Now in it's 130th year.
coins were hoarded by collectors and tourists
Lechelt, C. (2011, Jan./April). Emile Paul Börner
from around the world. Ironically, this led to a (1880-1970) – Ein Künstler, der Probleme
shortage of emergency money. macht … Keramos 211/212, 107-20.
Less than five years after the first Meissen Marusch-Krohn, C. (1993). Meissener Porzellan 1918-
notgeld coins were minted, the use of such 1933: Die Pfeifferzeit. Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1993.
currency was abruptly terminated. In July Ringleb, Frank. (1986) Porzellan und Keramiknotgeld.
of 1922, the German government banned the Numismatische Hefte 20, 40-50.
creation of notgeld. The state of Saxony had Röntgen, R. E. (1984) The Book of Meissen. Exton,
ceased issuing notgeld a year earlier, though it PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.Walcha, O. (1981).
Meissen Porcelain. New York: Putnam.
had continued commissioning coins meant for
collectors. Innovating after the prohibition of
porcelain and stoneware coinage, the Meissen
factory adapted its techniques, materials, and
designs to medals commemorating Martin
Luther and veterans of the First World War.
Less than a year later, inflation in Germany

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