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1 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Pirmasens (City of Pirmasens) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Tan paper with rust-brown decorative guilloche side panels framing a central vignette of the Pirmasens townscape with church spires and flags. The denomination EINE MILLION MARK is printed in bold letterpress below, with a text block noting redemption by the Stadtkasse Pirmasens until 1 October 1923. A circular municipal stamp appears at lower centre, with series letter and serial number at upper field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain tan field enclosed by a rectangular border with concentric pale grey underprint bands. The city coat of arms — a shield bearing a fortified tower surmounted by a lion holding arrows — is printed centrally in dark ink. The denomination 1000000 EINE MILLION MARK 1000000 runs in bold letterpress across the top, flanked by two small red square ornaments at mid-field. |
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| Comments |
Pirmasens notgeld from the million-mark period occupies a specific and well-documented corner of German inflation emergency currency. The city, known primarily as Germany's shoe-manufacturing center, issued its own high-denomination notgeld in 1923 as the Reichsbank's supply of legal tender simply could not keep pace with the velocity of hyperinflation — local authorities across the Reich were effectively forced into the role of monetary issuer.
The underprint security feature is modest by any standard, reflecting the municipal rather than national origin of the issue. Pirmasens had neither the procurement infrastructure nor the lead time to commission more sophisticated printing; getting paper into circulation fast mattered far more than anti-counterfeiting measures when a note's purchasing power would halve within days.