-40%
RARE UNCIRC WW1 ANTI-FRENCH PROPAGANDA MONEY! 1-10-100 Million Marks RETAIL 0
$ 39.57
- Description
- Size Guide
Description
The lowest denomination sold at auction on eBay in rag condition for . Buy the whole set in GEM for more right here and now - while you can! AlmostSOLD OUT
!
"SOUR GRAPES" MONEY!
ANTI-FRENCH OCCUPATION GERMAN PROPAGANDA CURRENCY!
VERY RARE COMPLETE SET in MINT CONDITION!!
As part of the reparations Germany was forced to pay the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles upon its defeat in 1918, control of the coal rich Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr Valley) was ceded to the French.
During its occupancy of westernmost Germany, France extracted millions of tons of valuable coal from the Ruhr, exacerbating Germany's postwar economic depression (which in turn led to Hyperinflation) and creating festering resentment against the French and a political climate ripe for nationalist movements such as the Nazi party.
This very rare original and complete set of jumbo size German currency poignantly reflects both the history and mood of the period in its sardonic condemnation of the French presence on German soil. They have to be considered masterpieces of financial and political art.
All three notes show a sultry version of "Marianne" (the French Lady Liberty) as a dominatrix with a whip in one hand and a fistful of cash in the other. Her feet have a prone German in a choke hold leaving him gasping for air, flanked by ever higher denominations of "Ruhrtaler" (Ruhr Thalers) - One, Ten and even One Hundred
Million
!! The caption reads: "Willingly would the French and Belgians pay this to every German who fetched coal for them to escape blame throughout the world for their malicious incursion into the Ruhrgebiet".
The reverse of the One Million shows 2 versions of the theme of German coal miners being overseen by French soldiers. The first panel shows the miners bent over as they push a coal cart ("the way they want it"). The second shows a coal cart tipped over on the rails with one miner making a "heave hoe" or "get lost" gesture ("the way it should actually be").
The reverse of the Ten Million depicts an effeminate French officer and his men intimidating a German cleaning woman at the Essen train station. "A major, 2 lieutenants and 19 men of the glorious French Army take the restroom custodian into custody for daring to explain the use of the facilities" (apparently she told them not to use the ladies' room). The side panels show a pair of crossed French pistols. All meant to show the heartlessness of the uncouth French.
The 100 Million note shows 2 French soldiers apprehending a crying little girl and a grimacing little boy dressed in rags for apparently trying to make off with a tiny cart of coal, no doubt direly needed by their family. "The Heroes of the Grande Nation take possession of Reparations Coal". The side panels show coal nuggets pierced by daggers.
These amazing banknotes are UNIQUE in the annals of paper money because they represent a hybrid of several kinds of German currency - Notgeld (postwar local emergency money), Grossgeld (large size usually higher denomination Notgeld), Inflation Money proper (of the highest denominations) and propaganda money, used primarily to express a political point of view. There is simply no finer example of propaganda money!
Choice to Gem Crisp Uncirculated condition! Retail Value 0 the set. Buy Now for .49! Last complete set in this PERFECT GRADE!!