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100 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Pforzheim (City of Pforzheim) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| In circulation to | 1923 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Stadt Pforzheim Gutschein über Hundert Milliarden Mark Die Scheine werden von den städtischen Kassen zum vollen Nennwert in Zahlung genommen und nach Aufruf in den Pforzheimer Tageszeitungen eingelöst. Pforzheim den 1.November 1923 Der Oberbürgermeister |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted and plain, showing the bare paper stock with considerable wear and foxing consistent with circulation use. A circular embossed or ink stamp of the Stadt Pforzheim municipal seal is visible in the lower right quadrant, serving as an authentication mark. No additional text, vignette, or decorative elements are present. |
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| Comments |
Pforzheim's municipal administration issued this hundred-billion Mark note in the autumn of 1923, one of hundreds of German local authorities forced into emergency currency production as Reichsbank supply collapsed under hyperinflation. The Notgeld issued at this denomination level represents the very peak of the crisis — by November 1923, a single US dollar exchanged for roughly 4.2 trillion Marks, rendering notes like this effectively worthless within days of printing.
The official stamp was the city's primary authentication mechanism, applied locally to distinguish genuine civic issue from forgeries, which proliferated badly at this stage of the inflation. Pforzheim, a center of the German jewelry and precision instrument trade, was particularly exposed — its export-dependent manufacturers were navigating wage calculations in denominations that had no historical precedent.