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2 000 000 Mark overprint on 5 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Frankfurt am Main (Magistrat) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Green guilloche underprint on cream paper within a decorative chain-link border frame; to the left, an intaglio cartouche encloses a female allegorical bust in mural crown rendered in fine line engraving. The original denomination "Fünftausend Mark" in Gothic Fraktur script is cancelled by a bold red letterpress overprint reading "ZWEI MILLIONEN MARK", with the numeral "2000000 M." in red at upper right. The issuing authority "Stadt Frankfurt a. M. Gutschein" appears in Gothic script at centre, with redemption text, the date "Frankfurt a. M., 15. August 1923", and two manuscript signatures below the legend "DER MAGISTRAT". |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Green guilloche underprint on cream paper enclosed within a matching chain-link border frame. At centre, a large engraved coat of arms of Frankfurt am Main — an eagle displayed upon a shield with baroque foliate supporters — serves as the principal vignette against a fine geometric rosette background, bisected horizontally by a bold red letterpress overprint reading "ZWEI MILLIONEN MARK". The legend "der Stadt Frankfurt am Main" in Gothic script appears below the overprint, with "Gutschein" at the top margin and the printer's imprint "C. Naumann's Druckerei, Frankfurt a/M" at the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Frankfurt's municipal authority — the Magistrat — was one of hundreds of German local governments forced into emergency currency production during the hyperinflation of 1923, when the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. Rather than commission entirely new stock, the Magistrat took existing 5,000 Mark notes from Naumann's press and applied a 2,000,000 Mark overprint — a 400-fold revaluation on the same piece of paper.
The overprint approach was driven by logistics, not thrift. New denomination notes required design approval, typesetting, and press time that the speed of inflation made irrelevant before the ink dried.