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1 000 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion
| Issuer | Reichsbahndirektion Stuttgart |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 000 000 000 Mark (1 000 000 000) |
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| Obverse description | Cream-toned note printed in dark blue on a plain paper ground, with the issuer legend «Reichsbahndirektion Stuttgart» at the top in Gothic script. A central vignette of a stylised winged wheel — the emblem of the German railway — flanked by spread wings frames the numeral «1000 000 000» in an oval cartouche. The denomination «Eine Milliarde Mark» is set in large decorative blackletter type across the lower half, above a three-paragraph redemption clause in small Fraktur script, followed by the place-and-date line «Stuttgart, den 26. September 1923» and a handwritten presidential signature above the title «Präsident». |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in warm golden-brown on plain paper, the reverse carries a full-width landscape vignette executed in fine line engraving: a multi-arched stone river bridge extends across the composition, with a colonnaded neoclassical building visible among trees in the left background and a tall lamp standard rising at the bridge's midpoint. A large tree trunk frames the left edge, while construction scaffolding or bridge piers occupy the right foreground, suggesting an active railway or road infrastructure scene. The denomination «1000000000» is typeset in outlined numerals along the bottom edge within a dotted border panel. |
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| Comments |
The Reichsbahndirektion Stuttgart — the regional railway directorate, not a bank — issued this billion-mark note as Notgeld during the hyperinflation peak of 1923, when the Reichsbank could no longer supply currency fast enough to meet payroll and commercial demand. Railway directorates across Germany became de facto emergency issuers, authorized by necessity rather than statute, printing denominations that would have been unimaginable twelve months earlier.
By the time notes at this denomination were circulating, the inflation curve had become nearly vertical. A billion marks in late 1923 bought roughly what a few pfennig had purchased before the war.