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20 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Magistrat der Stadt Kaufbeuren |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream paper Notgeld note in letterpress, with the city arms of Kaufbeuren — an eagle on a divided shield — in the upper right. The denomination '20 Millionen Mark' is set in large bold gothic type at centre-left, with issuer text above and validity clause below. A circular violet magistrate's stamp is applied at centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Unprinted reverse showing bleed-through of the obverse letterpress text in mirror image, with the city arms vignette visible at left through the thin paper stock. No independent design or lettering is present on this side. |
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| Comments |
Kaufbeuren's municipal administration issued this note at the peak of the Weimar hyperinflation, when local governments across Germany were legally empowered to print their own emergency currency — Notgeld — because the Reichsbank simply could not supply denominations large enough to keep commerce moving. By August 1923, twenty million marks could barely buy a loaf of bread, and notes of this face value had a useful circulation life measured in days before becoming effectively worthless.
Municipal Notgeld of this period was typically printed locally on whatever press and stock were available, which accounts for the considerable variation in paper quality across surviving examples from Kaufbeuren's issues.