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5 Rupien
| Issuer | Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in dark blue on a salmon-red guilloche underprint, the obverse carries the issuer's title "DIE DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKANISCHE BANK" in bold letterpress across the upper portion, with the place and date "Daressalam, den 15. Juni 1905" below the denomination panel. The large numeral "5" and the legend "FÜNF RUPIEN" appear in the centre, flanked by ornate guilloche rosettes at each corner with repeated "5 RUPIEN" panels in the lower left and right. A finely engraved intaglio vignette at the lower centre presents two lions — a maned male and a juvenile — set against a naturalistic savannah landscape. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | DEUTSCH-OSTAFRIKANISCHE BANK FÜNF RUPIEN 5 RUPIEN |
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| Comments |
The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank was established in 1905 specifically to provide a banking and currency infrastructure for German East Africa, and this 5 Rupien note is among the earliest issues it produced. The Rupie was pegged to the Indian Rupee at par, a pragmatic acknowledgment of the region's existing trade relationships with the Indian Ocean commercial world rather than any attempt to impose a purely German monetary framework.
Giesecke & Devrient had been printing security documents since 1852 and were the dominant supplier for German colonial currency. Pick 1 survivors in any condition are genuinely uncommon — the entire colonial series was disrupted by the outbreak of war in 1914, and much of the circulating stock in German East Africa was withdrawn or destroyed during the subsequent British campaign.