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1 000 000 Mark Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-Aktien-Gesellschaft
| Issuer | Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-Aktien-Gesellschaft |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in olive-brown on cream paper, the obverse is set within a stepped rectangular border with a fine guilloche underprint. The issuer's name in Gothic blackletter script occupies the upper central field, with the denomination 'Eine Million Mk' printed in bold Gothic type at centre, flanked by the text 'zahlt' and 'für'. A large numerals underprint '1000000' runs across the mid-field in pale olive. The lower portion carries the place and date of issue 'Gelsenkirchen, 10. Aug. 1923' to the left and the issuer's signature block to the right, with a manuscript authorisation signature below. Denomination panels reading '1 Million Mk' appear at top corners and inverted at bottom corners, with '1000000' printed vertically along the right margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 1 Million Mk Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-Aktien-Gesellschaft zahlt Eine Million Mk für diesen Gutschein bis 31. Jan. 1924 Gelsenkirchen, 10. Aug. 1923 Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-Aktien-Gesellschaft 1000000 |
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| Comments |
Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG was one of the largest coal and steel conglomerates in the Ruhr — by 1923, it employed tens of thousands of workers who needed paying weekly, sometimes daily, as hyperinflation rendered yesterday's wages worthless by afternoon. Emergency notgeld of this denomination was a payroll instrument first, a currency second.
The million-mark figure, staggering by any earlier standard, was already sliding toward irrelevance within weeks of printing. By November 1923, a single US dollar fetched over four trillion marks.