Editing Notgeld (section)

{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{lang|de|Notgeld|nocat=y}}}}
{{Short description|Emergency money issued during a crisis}}
[[File:German banknotes in 1917-1919, the town money.JPG|upright=1.35|thumb|Different examples of German {{lang|de|Notgeld}} notes, 1917–19]]
'''{{lang|de|Notgeld}}''' ([[German language|German]] for 'emergency [[money]]' or 'necessity money') is money issued by an institution in a time of economic or political crisis. The issuing institution is usually one without official sanction from the central government. This usually occurs when not enough state-produced money is available from the [[central bank]]. In particular, {{lang|de|notgeld}} generally refers to money produced in [[German Empire|Germany]] and [[Austria-Hungary|Austria]] during [[World War I]] and the [[Interwar period]]. Issuing institutions could be a town's [[savings bank]]s, [[municipality|municipalities]] and private or state-owned firms. Nearly all issues contained an expiry date, after which time they were invalid. Issues without dates ordinarily had an expiry announced in a newspaper or at the place of issuance.

{{lang|de|Notgeld}} was mainly issued in the form of (paper) [[banknotes]]. Sometimes other forms were also used: coins, [[leather]], [[silk]], [[linen]], [[wood]], [[postage stamp]]s, [[aluminium foil]], [[coal]], and [[porcelain]]; there are also reports of elemental [[sulfur]] being used, as well as all sorts of re-used paper and carton material (e.g. [[playing card]]s). These pieces made from [[playing card]]s are extremely rare and are known as {{lang|de|Spielkarten}}, the German word for 'playing cards'.

{{lang|de|Notgeld}} was a mutually-accepted means of payment in a particular region or locality, but notes could travel widely. Some cases of {{lang|de|Notgeld}} could better be defined as [[scrip]], which were essentially coupons redeemable only at specific businesses. However, the immense volume of issues produced by innumerable municipalities, firms, businesses, and individuals across Germany blurred the definition. Collectors tend to categorize by region or era rather than issuing authority (see below). {{lang|de|Notgeld}} is different from occupation money (e.g. [[Japanese invasion money]]) that is issued by an occupying army during a war.