German East African Notes

German East Africa existed for barely thirty years, from 1885 to 1918, in what are now Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. Its rupee is one of the rarest and most sought-after colonial issuers on the entire continent.

Money of the Great War

When the British fleet blockaded the colony in 1915, paper money stopped arriving from Berlin. The Germans improvised emergency issues printed locally in Tabora, with precarious means and whatever paper was available. These Interimsbanknoten pieces are among the rarest in African notaphily.

A doubly closed issuer

The colony disappeared with the German defeat and the territory passed to the United Kingdom and Belgium. There is no continuity: the issuer ended there, and everything that exists is what was printed before 1918.

What you will find here

German East Africa rupees with Pick reference and actual grading. These are serious historical pieces, not entry-level notaphily.

Shipping

Protected, in an individual sleeve, and tracked from Spain.

Discover more banknotes from the region in Banknotes of Africa.

If you are interested in this area, combine with Tanzania and Burundi.