NEW BOOK: THE NOTGELD OF GALICIA

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V22 2019 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 22, Number 33, August 20, 2019, Article 5

Here's a new book on the WWI-era notgeld (Emergency Currency) of the Galicia region of eastern Europe. Found via the August 13, 2019 issue of News & Notes. Here's a Google-translated description. -Editor

Research institute of the international scientific association world economy and world politics e.V. Berlin:

"The Emergency Money of Galicia - Local and Private Notgeld in Eastern European Galicia 1914/1923"

119 pages, with many colored illustrations, size 19 x 25 cm, perfect binding booklet,
Berlin 2019, price 23,50 Euro
ISBN no. 978-3-9818256-6-4

In the Internet age, textbooks on various topics are also very popular in the field of numismatics, especially in special areas that can not be published by traditional publishers for business reasons. The Ukrainian numismatist Oleg Klimenko and dr. Wilfried Trillenberg, director of the aforementioned research institute, published this book on emergency money in Galicia about 100 years ago as No. 47/19 in the series "European Integration, Basic Questions of Theory and Politics" of the institute.

It offers a great deal in the nine chapters, but it is - to anticipate it - not a "classic catalog" for collectors. The first few chapters describe very clearly the chaos in economics and trade that arose not only in Galicia, but in many countries after the end of the gold standard of 1914 and the First World War. The reading will also be of interest to those who are not much concerned with numismatics, as many aspects, including the fate of prisoners of war from the battles of the First World War, are dealt with. About the history of Galicia and Western Ukraine can be found today in the standard history books only relatively brief information, which also applies to Polish catalogs to Galicia's paper money. Here, collectors of Polish paper money will find plenty of background information, for which there is usually no place in catalog works and which are mentioned in the preface at best.

As far as the "Catalog Part" is concerned, we find here alphabetically arranged lists of places in Polish, which may also include Ukrainian names. The issued bills are given with nominal value and additional information, such as paper, stamp and special features such as signatures and - if known - date. A classic numbering does not occur. In the estimation of the author of these lines, this catalog is the most comprehensive, so far in Galicia, in terms of the number of positions. So "collectors" can very well find out which places have spent money at that time, for private as well as communal, d. H. "Official" paper money applies. Pictures of different banknotes we find significantly smaller at the end of the book in good quality. Anyone who has been dealing with the emergency money of Galicia for some time will perhaps own the OG 50 on page 91 or have seen it in the original. This is the 100-crown Assignatenschein 1915 the city of Lviv.

Of course, after 100 years and two wars, as well as many turmoil of the time, very few of the once-spent paper banknotes have been left, most of which may already be in collections - or even awaiting discovery? Of course, this book does not quote prices for the documented bills because all of these are rarities and many no longer exist.

For small-town signs, those who are personally interested in this symbol often pay "fantasy prices". Most Ukrainian and Polish paper money collectors in Galicia focus on the government bills that were running around, and they are quickly finding out, for example, here. at Poland in the interwar period 1919-1939 on borders. Anyone who can put one or the other private bill of a Galician place in the collection, may be pleased, because many will not be able to gather even with abundant money.

All in all, this book is a really worth reading for historically interested paper money friends who want to learn more about the area of ??Galicia 100 years ago. This circle can only be recommended for this book, which at the end contains summaries in German and Ukrainian. The inclusion of such in Polish would probably have greatly expanded the circle of interested parties.