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10 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Kiel (City of Kiel) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is divided into a left stub and a main body, both printed in brown and black on cream paper. The left stub carries the municipal coat of arms of Kiel — a shield with a stylised silver nettle leaf — above the inscription 'Stadt Kiel', a vertical red serial number prefixed 'No', and the denomination '10000 Mark' in bold Gothic script. The main field is headed by a dark banner bearing 'Gutschein der Stadt Kiel' in white lettering, beneath which a guilloche underprint frames the denomination 'Zehntausend Mark' in large Fraktur script, the date 'Kiel, den 28. Februar 1923', and four facsimile signatures above their respective official titles. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Kiel's municipal administration issued its own emergency currency — Notgeld — during the hyperinflation spiral of 1923, when the Reichsmark was collapsing fast enough that waiting for centrally printed notes was impractical. By mid-1923, the 10,000 Mark denomination that would have seemed absurd two years earlier was barely covering a tram ride. Cities, counties, and private firms across Germany printed their own parallel paper to keep commerce moving at the local level.
The watermarked paper is worth noting — many comparable municipal issues dispensed with security features entirely given the printing urgency and the near-certainty that the notes would be worthless within weeks regardless of counterfeiting risk.