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½ Skender
| Issuer | Municipality of Korçë (Albanian notgeld) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | ½ Skender (0.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | KATUNDARI' E KORÇËS SKENDER GJYSME 1/2 GJERO KASTRIOTI |
| Reverse description | Brown and red print on pale grey-green guilloche underprint; a large circular ornamental vignette dominates the centre field, within which a manuscript signature is overlaid. The word 'GJYSMË' appears in bold black letterpress at both left and right, with the denomination '1/2' repeated in each corner. The date inscription appears at lower centre. |
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| Comments |
Korçë issued its own fractional emergency currency in 1921 because the Albanian state had no functioning central bank and no stable national currency in circulation. The municipality stepped in to fill the void left by the collapse of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian monetary instruments that had previously served the region — a patchwork solution that was neither unique to Korçë nor particularly tidy in execution.
The Skender denomination itself is the curiosity here. Named after Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu, the 15th-century Albanian national hero, it was a unit of account with no broader institutional backing — local notgeld in the most literal sense, redeemable only within the municipality's own sphere.