Elberfeld was one of dozens of German municipalities forced into emergency currency production during the hyperinflation of 1923, when the Reichsmark's collapse outpaced the central bank's ability to supply adequate denominations. By the time million-mark notgeld was being issued, the face value was already losing purchasing power faster than the ink could dry — a one-million mark note in August 1923 might cover a loaf of bread; by November it wouldn't.
Filborn was a local Elberfeld printer, not a specialist banknote house, which shows in the relatively utilitarian execution. Elberfeld itself was absorbed into the newly consolidated city of Wuppertal in 1930, making all Stadt Elberfeld issues administratively obsolete within a decade of printing.
Elberfeld was one of dozens of German municipalities forced into emergency currency production during the hyperinflation of 1923, when the Reichsmark's collapse outpaced the central bank's ability to supply adequate denominations. By the time million-mark notgeld was being issued, the face value was already losing purchasing power faster than the ink could dry — a one-million mark note in August 1923 might cover a loaf of bread; by November it wouldn't.
Filborn was a local Elberfeld printer, not a specialist banknote house, which shows in the relatively utilitarian execution. Elberfeld itself was absorbed into the newly consolidated city of Wuppertal in 1930, making all Stadt Elberfeld issues administratively obsolete within a decade of printing.