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1 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Cities of Bottrop, Gladbeck, and Osterfeld (Prussian province of Westphalia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 000 000 Marks (1 000 000) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | N° 044970 1 000 000 Notgeld der Städte Bottrop, Gladbeck und Osterfeld. Eine Million Mark zahlen die Städte Bottrop, Gladbeck und Osterfeld dem Einlieferer dieses Scheines 1 Monat nach Ausruf in den Ortszeitungen ✝ Gegeben am 12. Aug. 1923 Der Oberbürgermeister, J.V.: (3 signatures) |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The joint issuance by Bottrop, Gladbeck, and Osterfeld reflects a peculiarity of the German hyperinflation emergency — the Notgeld system allowed municipalities, companies, and local authorities to print their own currency when Reichsbank supply couldn't keep pace with denomination demand. By mid-1923, the million-mark threshold had become routine; this note would have been functionally obsolete within weeks of printing, outpaced by inflation running at rates that made yesterday's denominations tomorrow's small change.
The three towns sit in the northern Ruhr industrial belt, an area under French and Belgian military occupation from January 1923 following Germany's default on reparations timber deliveries. That occupation directly strangled local economies and accelerated the collapse that made notes like this necessary.