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1 000 000 Mark Kakao-Kompagnie Theodor Reichardt
| Issuer | Kakao-Kompagnie Theodor Reichardt G.m.b.H., Wandsbek |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Hausdruckerei der Kakao-Compagnie Theodor Reichardt, Hamburg-Wandsbek, Germany |
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| Obverse description | Typeset notgeld printed in blue and orange on white paper, enclosed within a decorative blue guilloche border of repeating floral and geometric motifs. The issuer's name 'KAKAO-KOMPAGNIE THEODOR REICHARDT G.m.b.H. WANDSBEK' is set in bold letterpress across the top and bottom panels, while the central field carries the denomination 'EINE MILLION MARK' in large bold type, flanked by orange '1000000 M.' value figures and the wage-payment clause 'Gut für Arbeitslohn'. A light orange underprint of ornamental rosette vignettes fills the central field, over which a purple 'Reichardt' company stamp is applied, and two manuscript signatures of company officers appear above the issue date 'Wandsbek, 25. August 1923' with validity stated as 15 October 1923. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted paper reverse with a lightly impressed guilloche underprint of repeating rosette and geometric scroll patterns in pale rose, arranged within a rectangular border. A large violet rubber stamp reading 'Reichardt' in cursive script is applied diagonally across the centre of the field, serving as an authentication or cancellation mark. |
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| Comments |
At the peak of Germany's 1923 hyperinflation, private companies were legally permitted to issue their own emergency currency — Notgeld — to meet payroll when Reichsbank notes simply couldn't be printed fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. Theodor Reichardt's cocoa and chocolate company in Wandsbek was among hundreds of industrial firms that took up this authority, printing its own million-mark notes in-house rather than through a commercial printer.
The self-printing is the detail worth noting: the Hausdruckerei designation confirms this was produced on the company's own press, making it as much a production artifact as a monetary one.