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| Issuer | Francke Werke K.a.A., Bremen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Green guilloche underprint covers the entire note surface, with a large numeral '100000' underprint at centre. The upper portion carries the serial number prefixed 'Nr.' at left and the denomination 'Mk. 100000' at right in bold letterpress. A bank order instruction names J.F. Schröder Bank K.a.A. Bremen as the paying institution, followed by the large central legend 'Hunderttausend Mark' in bold Gothic script. The issuer name 'FRANCKE WERKE K.a.A.' appears below with the line 'Die Geschäftsinhaber:' and three manuscript signatures of the business proprietors; the printer's imprint 'Bremer Druckerei A.G.' is present at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Nr. Die Mk. 100000 J. F. Schröder Bank K. a. A. Bremen wird angewiesen, gegen diesen Schein im Wege der Bankverrechnung Hunderttausend Mark aus unserem Guthaben zu zahlen. Bremen, den FRANCKE WERKE K. a. A. Die Geschäftsinhaber: Bremer Druckerei A. G. |
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| Comments |
Francke Werke was a major Bremen engineering firm — manufacturers of heating and ventilation systems — that, like hundreds of German industrial companies in 1923, was forced into issuing its own emergency currency when hyperinflation rendered Reichsbank notes functionally useless before payroll could even be distributed. These corporate Notgeld issues were a practical necessity: workers needed something spendable today, not tomorrow, and central bank supply could not keep pace with the collapsing currency.
Printed locally by Bremer Druckerei A.G., this note would have been redeemable against wages or at company-affiliated outlets. At 100,000 Mark, it was already a mid-range denomination by mid-1923 standards — within months, the same firms were printing billions.