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2 000 000 Mark Bensberg
| Issuer | Gemeinde Bensberg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 140 × 90 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 2000000 GUTSCHEIN ÜBER Zwei Millionen Mark Dieser Gutschein wird von der Gemeindekasse Bensberg und von allen anderen öffentlichen Kassen in Zahlung genommen. Er verliert seine Gültigkeit einen Monat nach Aufkündigung, die in der Bensberger Volkszeitung und in wenigstens zwei Kölner Zeitungen erfolgen muß. Die Gemeinde Bensberg haftet für die Einlösung. BENSBERG, den 10. August 1923 Der Bürgermeister: GEMEINDE BENSBERG HEISS & Co. KÖLN-LINDENTHAL. |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in dark blue-violet on plain paper and centres on a large landscape vignette rendered in a fine engraved style, showing a panoramic view of Bensberg with Schloss Bensberg and the town's church tower rising above the treeline against an open sky, with fields and trees in the foreground. The vignette is enclosed within a plain ruled inner frame, itself surrounded by a bold decorative border of geometric and stylised Art Deco motifs incorporating triangular and arrow-shaped ornaments at the sides. The denomination legend 'ZWEI-MILLIONEN-MARK' is repeated four times around the border — once each along the top, bottom, left, and right edges. |
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| Comments |
Bensberg's two-million Mark note dates from the hyperinflation peak of summer 1923, when German municipal governments were legally permitted — and practically compelled — to issue their own emergency currency, Notgeld, to meet payroll and daily commerce as Reichsbank printing fell catastrophically behind demand. Gemeinde Bensberg, a small town east of Cologne, commissioned Heiss & Co. in Köln-Lindenthal to produce this note locally, keeping the supply chain short when transport and logistics were themselves disrupted by inflation.
By the time denominations reached seven figures, notes like this one had a usable lifespan measured in days before the face value became economically irrelevant.