Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank Currency & Banknote Values

The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank series of German East Africa in the World Currency contains 106 distinct entries.

The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank (German East Africa Bank, DOAB) was founded on 6 January 1905 with its headquarters in Berlin, Germany, and opened its main branch in Dar es Salaam (Arabic for “abode of peace”), the capital of German East Africa, on 23 June 1905. In time it would open branches in Bagamojo, Lindi, Tabora, and Tanga. The bank had an initial share capital of 2 million mark (4,000 shares of 500 mark each), with the ability to increase to 10 million mark. The German East Africa Company was the primary investor with 2,800 shares, the Deutsche Bank and the Diskonto-Gesellschaft each had 250 shares, and a number of other German banks had 100 shares each. The German East Africa Bank was granted the right to issue banknotes up to three times the paid-up amount, and was obligated to redeem its notes for silver on demand at Dar es Salaam.

Signature combinations have not been assigned variety numbers as is the standard elsewhere in The Banknote Book because doing so would have resulted in a confusing jumble due to the fact that over time the bank had overlapping issues with notes bearing many different combinations of two signatures, some printed, some stamped, and some handwritten. Instead, samples of each signature have been reproduced in the following tables, sorted alphabetically by the last name of each bank or government official. Due to the large quantities of notes which needed to be signed by hand, variations in signatures can be significant, which sometimes makes identification difficult.

Some notes have a third handwritten signature, usually on the back, indicating the note was authenticated by an unknown local official. Coverage of these signatures is beyond the scope of this catalog.