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20 000 000 000 Mark Deutsche Reichsbahn
| Issuer | Deutsche Reichsbahn (German National Railway) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S1022 |
| Obverse description | The face is printed in dark rose-red on a fine guilloche underprint and bears a central vignette of a steam locomotive in three-quarter view, rendered in detailed letterpress engraving. Above the vignette, the issuer's name appears in Gothic blackletter script, with the large denomination legend 'Zwanzig Milliarden Mark' spanning the full width of the note. The lower portion carries the place and date of issue, a circular Reichsverkehrsministerium eagle seal, a serial number at lower left, and a manuscript signature of the Reichsverkehrsminister at lower right; the denomination is additionally repeated in vertical blackletter text along the left margin. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Deutsche Reichsbahn issued its own emergency currency during the hyperinflation peak of 1923 because the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute denominations fast enough to meet daily wage demands. State enterprises — railways, municipal utilities, large industrial firms — were legally permitted to issue their own notgeld, and the Reichsbahn, as one of Germany's largest employers, had both the authority and the urgent need to pay hundreds of thousands of workers in something spendable before the next zeroes were added.
Twenty billion marks. By late 1923, that figure would not have covered a modest train fare for long.