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20 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Bergedorf (City of Bergedorf) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 000 000 Mark (20 000 000) |
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| Obverse description | Typographically composed Notgeld issued by the City of Bergedorf, printed in blue and dark red on a gold-ochre geometric guilloche underprint with a blue double-rule border frame. The denomination '20 Millionen Mark' is set in large blackletter script in dark red, with the issuer legend 'Gutschein der Stadt Bergedorf' above in blue. Below, a two-line redemption clause in small roman type is followed by the place-and-date line 'Bergedorf, den 23. August 1923' and the authority line 'Der Magistrat', beneath which two manuscript signatures appear in red ink. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted and shows a plain white paper surface, with the obverse design visible in light show-through, enclosed by a faint blue double-rule border corresponding to the obverse frame. |
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| Comments |
Bergedorf was an independent town northeast of Hamburg when it issued this note in 1923, though not for long — it was incorporated into Hamburg just two years later. Like hundreds of German municipalities that year, Bergedorf turned to Notgeld not out of monetary innovation but sheer necessity: Reichsbank notes were being outpaced by inflation so rapidly that local authorities had no practical alternative. Twenty million marks sounds staggering; by late 1923, it barely covered a loaf of bread.
The DeNG reference places this within a well-documented series, but individual denominations from smaller towns like Bergedorf survive in uneven quantities.