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1 000 000 Mark Bad Dürkheim
| Issuer | Stadt Bad Dürkheim (Rheinpfalz) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Printer | J. Rheinberger, Bad Dürkheim, Pfalz, Germany |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in blue-green and dark violet on cream paper, with a decorative geometric border of interlocking diamond patterns and corner cartouches inscribed "MILLION" in teal. The left panel contains a stylised vignette of a trident-like ornamental motif entwined with grapevine leaves and clusters, alluding to the Palatinate wine-growing region, with the serial number printed below in a scroll cartouche. The right panel carries the issuing authority text in Gothic script, the denomination "Eine Million Mark" in large blackletter type, the date "Bad Dürkheim, 15. August 1923", two manuscript signature lines for the Stadtrat and Stadtkasse, an embossed official seal, and a redemption clause in small type at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | RUINE LIMBURG. |
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| Comments |
Bad Dürkheim was a small spa town in the Rhenish Palatinate, and like hundreds of German municipalities in 1923, it was forced to issue its own emergency currency — Notgeld — because the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute denominations fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation. By mid-1923, a million marks was barely enough for a loaf of bread on a bad day.
J. Rheinberger was a local printer, not a specialist banknote firm, which is exactly the point: municipal authorities took what was available. The rough-and-ready production quality of many provincial Notgeld issues from this period reflects genuine desperation rather than design indifference.