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20 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Altenburg (City of Altenburg), Thuringia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Printed in dark brown and rose on a guilloche underprint composed of repeated '20' rosettes, the obverse carries the bold central legend '20 MILLIONEN MARK' with 'Zwanzig Millionen Mark' below, flanked left by a raised-hand vignette and right by a floral rosette. To the right of the text field, an intaglio-style vignette renders a monumental fountain with figurative statuary set against an Altenburg townscape. Two manuscript signatures appear below the issuing authority lines 'Der Stadtrat' and 'Der Stadtdirektor', with a circular official seal at centre and the printer's imprint at foot. |
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| Obverse lettering | Notgeld der Stadt Altenburg / Thür. 20 MILLIONEN MARK Zwanzig Millionen Mark Ausgegeben im Oktober 1923 / Verfalltag: Ein Monat nach Aufruf Der Stadtrat Der Stadtdirektor Wer dieses als öffentliches Zahlungsmittel geltende Notgeld nachmacht oder verfälscht oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte Geldscheine sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird nach den Bestimmungen des Strafgesetzbuches mit Zuchthaus nicht unter 2 Jahren bestraft. SPIELKARTENFABRIK A.-G., ALTENBURG |
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| Comments |
Altenburg's hyperinflation notgeld was printed by the Spielkartenfabrik A.G. — a playing card manufacturer, not a security printer. The firm had the presses, the ink, and the paper, and in 1923 that was qualification enough. Dozens of German municipalities turned to whatever local printer could run the job fast enough to keep pace with denominations that doubled weekly.
Twenty million marks, issued as a municipal emergency instrument, would have represented meaningful purchasing power for perhaps a matter of days before inflation rendered it functionally worthless. The Rentenmark reform in November 1923 extinguished the entire notgeld series at a conversion rate that made these notes negligible fractions of a new pfennig.