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10 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Barmen (City of Barmen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in blue on cream paper in letterpress, the entire surface covered by a symmetrical ornamental vignette of interlocking scrollwork and stylised floral forms. At centre, a shield-shaped cartouche carries the text "Gutschein der Stadt Barmen über Zehn Millionen Mark" in Gothic script on a solid blue ground, with the denomination figure "10,000,000" repeated in each corner and the printer's imprint "AUGUST SCHMIDTMANN, BARMEN" along the lower margin. |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Wavy lines repeated |
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| Comments |
Barmen issued its own emergency currency — Notgeld — because the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation in 1923. By August of that year, municipal and commercial authorities across Germany were authorized to issue their own denominations, and the ten-million mark face value on this note reflects how rapidly purchasing power was collapsing: a figure that would have seemed fantastical in 1921 was barely sufficient for ordinary transactions within months of printing.
August Schmidtmann was a local Barmen printer, not a specialist security press. The watermarked paper provided minimal counterfeiting deterrence at a moment when the notes themselves became worthless before forgery was even worth attempting.