Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 000 000 000 000 Mark Deutsche Reichsbahn
| Issuer | Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railway) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 000 000 000 000 Marks (20 000 000 000 000) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Salmon-pink firm smooth paper with a central light green guilloche underprint. All text is printed in black letterpress, with the denomination and issuer legends arranged in structured typeset blocks across the face. The five-digit serial number is printed in red to the right, followed by an asterisk suffix. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermark Keller #219 (catalogue reference 43) |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Deutsche Reichsbahn issued its own emergency currency during the hyperinflation peak of late 1923 because the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute denominations fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. Railway workers needed to be paid, and state enterprises were effectively authorized to issue notgeld-style instruments to cover wages and operational costs. The Reichsbahn's issues are among the highest face-value notes produced by any single German institution during that period.
Twenty trillion marks. By the time this denomination was necessary, the figure had lost all psychological meaning to ordinary holders.