The Hamburgische Bank von 1923 A.G. was one of dozens of private clearing institutions that emerged during the hyperinflation crisis to facilitate commercial transactions when Reichsbank currency had become effectively worthless by denomination before the ink dried. These Verrechnungsmarken — clearing tokens — were not currency in any legal sense but served the practical needs of Hamburg's merchant community during the months before the Rentenmark stabilization in November 1923.
The aluminium composition is telling: by mid-1923, even base metals had become too valuable for the Reichsbank to coin in quantity.
The Hamburgische Bank von 1923 A.G. was one of dozens of private clearing institutions that emerged during the hyperinflation crisis to facilitate commercial transactions when Reichsbank currency had become effectively worthless by denomination before the ink dried. These Verrechnungsmarken — clearing tokens — were not currency in any legal sense but served the practical needs of Hamburg's merchant community during the months before the Rentenmark stabilization in November 1923.
The aluminium composition is telling: by mid-1923, even base metals had become too valuable for the Reichsbank to coin in quantity.