2 000 000 Mark Ostelbisches Braunkohlensyndikat

The Ostelbisches Braunkohlensyndikat — the East Elbian Brown Coal Syndicate — was one of the large regional lignite cartels that coordinated production and pricing across the mining districts east of the Elbe. During the hyperinflation of 1923, industrial firms, utilities, and trade associations throughout Germany were authorized to issue notgeld to pay their workers when the Reichsbank simply could not supply enough physical currency to keep payrolls running. This 2,000,000 Mark denomination places the note squarely in the mid-1923 phase, before the truly astronomical figures of October and November.

The watermarked paper is worth noting — most emergency industrial issues of this period used whatever stock was available, and the presence of a security feature suggests this syndicate either drew on pre-existing commercial stationery supply or sourced from a Berlin printer with access to watermarked stock.