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100 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Heidelberg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Light pink print on off-white stock, with a bold rampant lion vignette at centre — the oldest known representation of the Heidelberg city seal — printed in a deeper red-pink tone. The denomination "100 MILLIARDEN MARK" appears in large letterpress type flanking the lion at left and right, with a caption legend printed below the vignette. The obverse text shows through the thin paper as a ghost image in the background. |
| Reverse lettering | 100 Milliarden Mark Älteste Darstellung des Heidelberger Stadtsiegels. |
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| Comments |
Heidelberg's municipal emergency currency issued at 100 billion Mark places this note squarely in the catastrophic final weeks of German hyperinflation, when the Reichsbank could not physically print denominations fast enough and local authorities were legally authorized to issue Notgeld to cover payrolls and daily transactions. By November 1923, a single US dollar was worth roughly 4.2 trillion Mark — meaning this note represented a fraction of a cent in real purchasing power at issue.
The dry seal authentication was added precisely because municipalities had minimal anti-counterfeiting infrastructure; forging local Notgeld had become a cottage industry by mid-1923.