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1 000 000 Mark overprint on 500 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtkasse Lübeck (City Treasury of Lübeck) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The right panel bears the original 500 Mark Kassenschein issued by the Stadtkasse Lübeck, dated 27. September 1922, with Fraktur typography, guilloche underprint in blue and brown, denomination numerals in corners, and an embossed circular Stadtkasse Lübeck eagle stamp. A bold red diagonal letterpress overprint reads "Eine Million Mark." The left panel carries the revalidation text in red Fraktur script dated Lübeck, 10. August 1923, over a decorative blue guilloche cartouche. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse of the original 500 Mark note shows a salmon-toned paper ground with a repeating floral guilloche underprint. A central dark brown rosette medallion carries the numeral "500" above and below within lathe-work borders. The original denomination "Fünfhundert Mark" is printed in dark blue Fraktur flanking the medallion, with a large diagonal green letterpress overprint reading "Eine Million Mark." |
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| Comments |
Lübeck's city treasury was one of dozens of German municipal issuers scrambling to keep pace with hyperinflation in 1923, when the mark was losing value faster than new denominations could be printed. The solution — overprinting existing 500 Mark stock with a value two thousand times higher — was purely pragmatic. H. G. Rahtgens, a local Lübeck printer, handled both the original note and the overprint, which is relatively uncommon; many municipalities used separate firms for the stamp, sometimes creating attribution problems.
By the time notes like this reached circulation, the overprinted figure was itself becoming obsolete within days.