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20 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Pirmasens (City Municipality of Pirmasens) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Typeset Notgeld issued on cream paper with a pink guilloche underprint of repeating oval leaf motifs covering the central field. The heading reads 'Notgeldschein der Stadtgemeinde Pirmasens' in Gothic blackletter, above the large numeral '20' flanked by ornamental foliate devices, with 'MILLIARDEN MARK' in bold sans-serif type below. A five-line redemption clause in German script occupies the lower centre, with the issuing authority 'Bürgermeisteramt' and date 'Pirmasens, 10. Oktober 1923' at the foot, accompanied by two manuscript signatures and a serial number; a vertical strip at left in a ruled frame carries the validity notice 'Umlauffähig im ganzen Regierungsbezirk Pfalz / Gültig bis zum 1. April 1924'. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse carries a woodcut-style vignette at left within a red-ruled rectangular frame, illustrating a frontal view of the Landgräfliches Schloss (Landgrave's Palace) in Alt-Pirmasens, with figures on the forecourt steps and trees flanking the baroque façade. To the right, the denomination is stated in three stacked lines — 'Zwanzig / Milliarden / Mark' — in bold Gothic type, separated by red horizontal rules. The title 'Notgeldschein der Stadtgemeinde Pirmasens' appears across the top in blackletter script, and a caption below the vignette reads 'Landgräfl. Schloß in Alt-Pirmasens' in italic. |
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| Comments |
Pirmasens issued this 20-billion-Mark note at the absolute peak of Weimar hyperinflation, when the Reichsbank could no longer supply denominations large enough for basic transactions. Like hundreds of other German municipalities, Pirmasens printed its own emergency currency — Notgeld — out of administrative necessity, not monetary ambition. By November 1923, a single US dollar was worth roughly 4.2 trillion Marks, which puts a 20-billion denomination in grim perspective: enough, briefly, for a loaf of bread.
Local printing on whatever stock was available means paper quality varies considerably across surviving examples from this late-inflation series.