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1 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Essen (City of Essen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 000 000 000 Mark (1 000 000 000) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Eine Milliarde Mark (1000 Millionen) zahlt die Stadt Essen dem Einlieferer dieses Scheines 1 Monat nach Aufruf in den Essener Tageszeitungen. Essen am 15. September 1923 Der Oberbürgermeister: (Signature) (Translation: One Billion Marks (1000 Million) The city of Essen pays the bearer of this note 1 month after it is called up in the Essen daily newspapers. Essen on the 15 September 1923 The Lord Mayor: (Signature)) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | MK. 1000 000 000 MK. 1 MILLIARDE (in each corner of rectangle NOTGELD DER STADT ESSEN NOTGELD DER STADT ESSEN NOTGELD DER STADT ESSEN NOTGELD DER STADT ESSEN MK. 1000 000 000 MK. (Translation: Mark 1000 000 000 Mark 1 Billion Emergency Money of the City of Essen Emergency Money of the City of Essen Emergency Money of the City of Essen Emergency Money of the City of Essen Mark 1000 000 000 Mark) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
By mid-1923, German municipal authorities were printing their own emergency currency — Notgeld — because the Reichsbank simply could not keep pace with denominations that inflation rendered obsolete within days of issue. Essen's billion-mark note was not an aberration; it was an administrative necessity. The Ruhr occupation by French and Belgian forces earlier that year had effectively paralyzed the regional economy, and passive resistance — officially encouraged by Berlin — meant wages still had to be paid even as industrial output collapsed.
The watermarked paper distinguishes this from the purely utilitarian scrip many municipalities issued on whatever stock was available. Someone in the procurement chain still cared, briefly, about counterfeiting.