Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion
| Issuer | Deutsche Reichsbahn, Reichsbahndirektion Karlsruhe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Green letterpress Gutschein on white paper with an elaborate guilloche underprint of interlocking floral and oval rosette patterns filling the entire field. The large Fraktur denomination legend "Eine Million Mark" occupies the centre, above a two-line redemption clause in Kurrent script; the issuing authority "Deutsche Reichsbahn / Reichsbahndirektion Karlsruhe" appears in Gothic lettering at the top. The denomination numeral 1000000 is repeated in the four corners, with a serial number at upper left, a series letter at lower left, and a manuscript signature of the Reichsbahndirektion official at the foot centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | REICHSBAHNDIREKTION KARLSRUHE GUT FÜR 1000000 MARK |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The German railway administrations — the Reichsbahndirektionen — became emergency currency issuers during the hyperinflation of 1923 out of pure necessity. The Reichsbank could not print and distribute notes fast enough to meet payroll, so regional railway directorates were authorized to issue their own Notgeld to pay workers directly. The Karlsruhe directorate controlled rail operations across Baden, a strategically significant network given the French occupation of the Ruhr that same year and the resulting disruption to west German freight and coal traffic.
Railway Notgeld at this denomination was typically redeemable only within the issuing directorate's jurisdiction, which kept it out of general commerce faster than most municipal issues.