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20 000 000 000 Mark Lohnscheck
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Mengen (Württemberg) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 153 × 97 mm |
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| Obverse description | Plain pink paper with a bold black geometric border of interlocking diagonal motifs framing the entire note. The upper portion carries the issuer's name in Gothic blackletter script, with the denomination title 'Lohnscheck' in large display type and the value 'Mk. 20,000,000,000' to the right; a serial number prefix 'C No.' with a blank fill line appears to the left. The central text, in black letterpress, instructs the Oberamtssparkasse Saulgau to pay against this cheque from the municipality's account, with the sum '20 Milliarden Mark' printed in large green type across the middle, partially overlaid by the circular municipal seal of Mengen bearing a crescent and lion coat of arms; the place and date 'Mengen, 31. Okt. 1923' appear at lower left, with 'Stadtpflege' at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is an uninked letterpress offset of the obverse, appearing as a grey mirror image on the plain pink paper, with all text and design elements printed in reverse and without the green denomination colour. The same geometric border, Gothic lettering, municipal seal, and layout are visible as a show-through impression, with no additional design or text applied to this side. |
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| Comments |
Mengen is a small town in Upper Swabia — not a major industrial center — yet like hundreds of German municipalities in autumn 1923, it was forced to issue its own emergency payroll currency simply to meet wage obligations when Reichsbank notes arrived too slowly and in denominations already obsolete by the time workers could spend them. The "Lohnscheck" designation is specific: this was not general circulation Notgeld but a wage cheque, printed for direct payroll distribution rather than retail use.
Twenty billion marks. By October 1923, that sum would not reliably buy a loaf of bread.