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5 Rupien
| Issuer | Kaiserliches Gouvernement von Deutsch-Ostafrika |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears the issuing authority designation 'Daressalam/Tabora' at left, with the authorization clause 'Kraft besonderer Ermächtigung' at lower left. The note is typeset in a plain letterpress style with a simple ruled border, reflecting wartime emergency issue conditions. The left signature is applied by hand. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#34a(1) - gray-green cardboard with blue fibres series D P#34a(2) - gray-green cardboard with blue fibres series E P#34b(1) - gray-green cardboard with blue fibres and impressed jute texture series D P#34b(2) - gray-green cardboard with blue fibres and impressed jute texture series E P#34c - gray-green cardboard without blue fibres series E P#34d(1) - gray-green cardboard without impressed jute texture series E P#34d(2) - gray-green cardboard without impressed jute texture series F |
| Comments |
By 1915, the naval blockade had severed German East Africa from Europe entirely, cutting off any possibility of importing currency from metropolitan printers. The colonial government turned to the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Zeitung — a local newspaper press — to produce emergency notes, which is precisely why this series looks nothing like conventional colonial currency. It was printed on whatever paper the press had available, including in some documented instances interleaved paper stocks originally intended for newsprint runs.
Governor Heinrich Schnee authorized the issue under wartime necessity provisions. Lettow-Vorbeck's campaign kept the colony undefeated until after the Armistice, meaning these notes remained nominally valid longer than almost any other German colonial emission.