Token 36 – DSWA – German South West Africa – Hafen Hotel Swakopmund – 50 Pfennig Werth-Marke

Token 36 – DSWA – German South West Africa – Hafen Hotel Swakopmund – 50 Pfennig Werth-Marke

Original Werth-Marke 50 from the historic Hafen Hotel in Swakopmund, German South West Africa.

This attractive brass token bears “WERTH-MARKE 50”, with “Hafen Hotel Swakopmund” impressed into the design, while the reverse carries the denomination “50”. The specialist Opalka catalogue records the piece as a round brass token measuring approximately 25 mm.

The 50 Pfennig was part of a substantial and highly interesting Hafen Hotel Swakopmund denomination series, with documented values of 10, 25, 50, 75, 150 and 300. This makes the token particularly appealing to collectors interested in assembling a series from one historic establishment.

Token 35 – the 25 Pfennig Hafen Hotel Werth-Marke – is an especially interesting companion to this piece. The two denominations are from the same documented hotel series and are very similar in design, making Token 35 and Token 36 an attractive potential two-token offering for a collector interested in building a denomination group from the Hafen Hotel.

The Hafen Hotel was associated with Swakopmund, one of the principal commercial and port centres of German South West Africa. Its Werth-Marken provide a fascinating glimpse into the everyday commercial and hospitality life of the German colonial period.

For collectors of German South West Africa, Swakopmund, hotel tokens and German colonial exonumia, the 50 Pfennig denomination is an important and highly recognisable piece. Its larger size compared with the 25 Pfennig and its place within the six-denomination series add to its appeal.

An excellent original example of Swakopmund hotel exonumia, with particularly strong collector appeal when considered alongside Token 35 – the 25 Pfennig issue from the same Hafen Hotel series.