Bush notes
The last banknotes of the German-East African bank are characterized by the term “ bush notes” . They were manufactured in 1917 by the German authorities under the most primitive conditions.
After the cities of Dar es Salaam and Tabora were taken by the English, the German administration no longer had a permanent seat. The German troops had to constantly evade the attacks of their opponents. As a result, the printing machines that were necessary for the production of banknotes were also lost.
In order to meet the need for paper money , a rubber type pen box was used, which was originally used as a children's toy on a German plantation. Under the most primitive conditions, 1, 5, 10 and 50 rupee notes were produced. For this one used u. a. also office paper. Therefore, there are also some notes on which there are letterheads or date lines from different offices.
Four series were created. First the series "ER". By removing the "R-dash" one got the letter combination "EP". Finally, a line was removed from the “E” and the letter combination “FP” was obtained. Finally, the “F” was reduced to an “I”. Based on the identification numbers of the banknotes that still exist, it is estimated that around 400,000 banknotes were produced in this way at the time. It is noteworthy that all banknotes were hand-signed by bank officials Kirst and Stelling.