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1 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Duisburg (City of Duisburg) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in dusky rose-red and black on cream paper, with a rectangular guilloche border framing a central cartouche. At the top of the cartouche, the Duisburg civic arms — an eagle displayed above a crenellated tower — serve as the principal vignette. The large numeral '1,000,000' is set in bold hollow figures across the centre, with 'Mark' in Gothic script beneath. A green text-repeat underprint of 'Duisburg' and denomination values covers the entire field. At right, a vertical ornamental lozenge echoing the obverse bears the circular red Stadt Duisburg Notgeld stamp. |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Circular red overprint stamp bearing the inscription 'STADT DUISBURG NOTGELD' with the city's heraldic eagle and castle, applied on both obverse and reverse. |
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| Comments |
Duisburg's million-mark emergency notes of 1923 belong to the Notgeld wave that flooded Germany during the hyperinflationary peak — the period when the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to meet demand, and municipalities, businesses, and utilities stepped in as de facto issuers. The overprint stamp on this note was a common expedient: a lower denomination already in stock, revalued by rubber stamp as the mark collapsed by the hour.
Duisburg sat at the heart of the Ruhr occupation crisis. French and Belgian troops had seized the industrial region in January 1923 over reparations defaults, and local economic life was running on improvised instruments exactly like this one.