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Picture of the day

File:GER-COL-S-1451-Prussia-Siege of Kolberg-2 groschen-1807.jpg

• Obverse and reverse of a two-groschen banknote issued during the siege of Kolberg
  2 groschen
• Obverse and reverse of a four-groschen banknote issued during the siege of Kolberg
  4 groschen
• Obverse and reverse of a eight-groschen banknote issued during the siege of Kolberg
  8 groschen

The siege of Kolberg took place from March to July 1807 during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. An army of the First French Empire and several foreign auxiliaries (including Polish insurgents) of France besieged the fortified town of Kolberg, the only remaining Prussian-held fortress in the Province of Pomerania. The siege was ultimately unsuccessful and was lifted upon the announcement of the peace of Tilsit. These three banknotes, in denominations of two, four and eight groschen, were issued by the Prussian authorities in Kolberg as emergency money during the siege. Each was handwritten on cardboard with multiple authorising signatures and was stamped with the seal of the local government. The banknotes are now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in the United States.Banknote design credit: Kingdom of Prussia; scanned by Andrew Shiva