Signees of interims banknotes, the positions they held, samples, variants & rarity of the signatures.
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Berendt
DOAB Chief Cashier in Daressalam & from 1916 in Tabora. Ex-paymaster on a ship?
1 - Very Common
Brandenburg
Pay officer for the soldiers and on the accounts committee
5 - Very Rare
Ernst
DOAB bank official, from 1916 Cashier in Tabora. Ex-rail civil service officer
2 - Common
Frühling
DOAB Director
1 - Very Common
Häge
Government Secretary
1 - Very Common
Kessal
Government Secretary
4 - Rare
Kielich
Government Secretary
1 - Very Common
Kirst
DOAB bank official
1 - Very Common
Kreuzberger
Police Official. During the war deputy commissioner in Tabora or Dodoma.
6 - Extremely Rare
Lergen
Pensions Officer and chair of the accounts committee in Daressalam
3 - Not Common
Lichtenstein
Government Assistant
1 - Very Common
Menzel
Government Secretary in the area office of Dodoma
4 - Rare
Müller
Government Secretary and director of the war office of the governor Dr. Schnee
4 - Rare
Neugebauer
Government Secretary
2 - Common
Pohl
Government Secretary
3 - Not Common
Reindl
Government Commissioner Secretary, Lieutenant in the Reserves, qualified Veterinarian & Catholic Mission Treasurer
3 - Not Common
Schön
Government Secretary
4 - Rare
Seidenschwarz
Government Secretary
3 - Not Common
Stelling
DOAB bank official
1 - Very Common
Westhaus
DOAB bank official
5 - Very Rare
Berendt
1 - Very Common
Frühling
1 - Very Common
Frühling type 1 with 'gez'
2 - Common
Frühling type 1 without 'gez'
2 - Common
Frühling type 2 with 'gez'
2 - Common
Frühling type 2 without 'gez'
2 - Common
Hand signed signatures
Printed signatures
Stamped signatures
My proposed signature combination reference system for interims banknotes.
Left Side Signature
Right Side Signature
Hand signed
1. Berendt
a. Berendt
2. Brandenburg
b. Brandenburg
3. Ernst
c. Ernst
4. Frühling
d. Frühling
5. Häge
e. Häge
6. Kessal
f. Kessal
7. Kielich
g. Kielich
8. Kirst
h. Kirst
9. Kreuzberger
i. Kreuzberger
10. Lergen
j. Lergen
11. Lichtenstein
k. Lichtenstein
12. Menzel
l. Menzel
13. Müller
m. Müller
14. Neugebauer
n. Neugebauer
15. Pohl
o. Pohl
16. Reindl
p. Reindl
17. Schön
q. Schön
18. Seidenschwarz
r. Seidenschwarz
19. Stelling
s. Stelling
20. Westhaus
t. Westhaus
Printed
21. Frühling type 1 with 'gez'
u. Frühling type 1 with 'gez'
22. Frühling type 1 without 'gez'
v. Frühling type 1 without 'gez'
23. Frühling type 2 with 'gez'
w. Frühling type 2 with 'gez'
24. Frühling type 2 without 'gez'
x. Frühling type 2 without 'gez'
Stamped
25. Berendt
y. Berendt
26. Frühling
z. Frühling
Interim banknotes of German East Africa have many different signature combinations. While there are a total of 26 signatures and most of them are hand signed, there are some that are only printed and some that are found as a stamped variety. Also the fact that the same person sometimes signed the left side of one note and the right side of a different one makes cataloguing signature combinations a little more complicated!
My attempt to offer a solution is a simple reference system using numbers and alphabets. I have listed all 26 signature varieties on the left side and assigned them a number as well as listing all 26 on the right side and assigned them an alphabet. The combination of the 2 gives the required left-right signature combination found on a particular note - a simple system indeed but using it one can additionally distinguish between the hand signed, printed and stamped signatures. So for example :
Combination
Left Hand Signature
Right Hand Signature
3-h
15-w
25-z
Ernst (hand signed)
Pohl (hand signed)
Berendt (stamped)
Kirst (hand signed)
Frühling (stamped)
Frühling type 2 with 'gez' (printed)
There are of course some signature combinations that don't exist and some signatures that are found only on one side but using this system one can use whatever combination is needed and cover all potential combinations including the possibilty of discovering new ones. I hope all this makes sense and helps any collector at any stage of collecting German East Africa Interims banknotes!