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2 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | City of Cologne (Notgeld) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Serie I Stadt | Köln Gutschein über Zwei Millionen Mark Dieser Gutschein wird von allen städtischen und anderen öffentlichen Kassen in Zahlung genommen. Er verliert seine Gültigkeit einen Monat nach Aufkündigung in den Kölner Ortsblättern. Die Stadtgemeinde Köln haftet für die Einlösung. Köln, den 1. august 1923 2 000 000 Mark Der Oberbürgermeister: Adenauer (signature) Bachem, Köln (Translation: Series I City of Köln Voucher for Two million Marks This voucher shall be accepted by all city and other public cash registers. It will lose its validity one month after announcement in Köln`s local papers. The Municipality of Köln is liable for its redemption. Köln, the 1st of August 1923 Mayor (signature of) Adenauer 2,000,000 Marks Mayor: Adenauer (signature)) |
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| Signature(s) | Adenauer |
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| Comments |
Cologne's 2,000,000 Mark Notgeld was signed by Konrad Adenauer in his capacity as Oberbürgermeister — a role he held from 1917 until the French occupation authorities removed him in 1926. The signature here is not ceremonial; municipal governments across the Rhineland were issuing emergency currency because the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation. By the time notes at this denomination were entering circulation in mid-1923, the purchasing power of each one was already collapsing within days of issue.
J. P. Bachem was a Cologne-based Catholic publishing house with a long printing history — an unusual but not unprecedented choice for emergency currency production when specialist security printers were overwhelmed.