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20 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt- und Landkreis Gelsenkirchen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 000 000 Mark (20 000 000) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NOTGELD FÜR DEN STADT- U. LANDKREIS GELSENKIRCHEN Reihe C Zwanzig Millionen Mark Ausgegeben mit Genehmigung des Reichsfinanzministers von dem Stadt- u. Landkreise Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen, den 21. September 1923. Namens der Stadt Gelsenkirchen: Der Oberbürgermeister Namens des Landkreises Gelsenkirchen: Der Kreisausschuß 20000000 |
| Reverse description | Printed in blue on cream paper, the reverse is enclosed by a scrollwork outer border and a dotted inner rule, with a light floral guilloche underprint across the central field. The issuer's name 'Stadt- und Landkreis Gelsenkirchen' is set in two lines of Gothic script at the top, followed by the large denomination 'Zwanzig Millionen Mark' in bold Gothic type. A three-line redemption clause in smaller roman type appears at the foot, and the numeral '20000000' is printed vertically along the left margin. |
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| Comments |
Gelsenkirchen's municipal and district authority issued this note during the peak inflationary spiral of 1923, when the Reichsbank could not supply denominations fast enough to keep pace with price collapse. Local governments, savings banks, and private firms across Germany stepped in as emergency issuers — what collectors now call Notgeld — though by mid-1923 these were no longer the small-change tokens of 1921 but multi-million Mark instruments used for ordinary wage payments.
Twenty million Mark sounds extraordinary. In August 1923, it would buy a loaf of bread, briefly.