Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Rupie
| Issuer | Kaiserliches Gouvernement von Deutsch-Ostafrika |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | 1916 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Imperial German eagle vignette at upper left, with the notation 'gez.: A. Frühling' present but no actual signature at right. The note bears the denomination and issuing authority text in a plain letterpress layout characteristic of wartime emergency issues. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Der Gegenwert dieser Banknote ist bei dem Kaiserlichen Gouvernement von Deutsch-Ostafrika voll hinterlegt. Kadri ya noti hii imewekwa sahihi katika Kaiserliches Gouvernement von Deutsch-Ostafrika Wer Banknoten nachmacht oder verfälscht oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird mit Zuchthaus nicht unter 2 Jahren bestraft DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKANISCHE ZEITUNG G.M.B.H. DARESSALAM |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
By 1915, the British naval blockade had completely severed German East Africa from Europe, forcing the colonial government to improvise its own currency from whatever materials were available locally. The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Zeitung G.m.b.H. — a newspaper printer, not a security press — was pressed into service in Dar es Salaam, producing notes on whatever paper could be sourced in a surrounded colony at war.
The result is technically crude by any metropolitan standard, which is precisely what makes the series historically striking. Forgery resistance was minimal; the authorities had neither the equipment nor the time for sophisticated intaglio work. Governor Schnee's administration signed off on a design that was, above all, fast to produce.
Surviving examples frequently show uneven ink distribution and rough perforations — artifacts of newspaper press production, not deterioration.