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200 000 000 000 Mark Handelsverein
| Issuer | Handelsverein Bevensen und Umgebung (Commercial Association Bevensen and Surroundings) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 200 000 000 000 Marks (200 000 000 000) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | M. 200 000 000 000 Die Kreissparkasse zu Bevensen wolle zahlen gegen diesen Scheck aus unserem Guthaben an den Ueberbringer Zweihundert Milliarden Mark Bevensen, 25. Oktober 1923. Handelsverein Bevensen und Umgebung Nur zur Verrechnung Vorsitzender. Schriftführer. Dieser Scheck wird eingelöst von nachstehenden Banken und Sparkassen : Bevenser Bank Bevensen, Westholsteinische Bank Bevensen und Lüneburg, Kreissparkassen Bevensen und Uelzen, Kreissparkassennebenstelle Ebstorf, Spar- und Darlehenskassen in Altenmedingen, Bevensen, Bienenbüttel und Himbergen. |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted cream paper showing only the bleed-through impression of the obverse text and underprint in mirror image. A pencilled notation and a red stamp impression are visible at lower right, consistent with a clearing or accounting endorsement. |
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| Comments |
Bevensen was a small spa town in Lower Saxony, and like hundreds of German municipalities and local commercial bodies in late 1923, its Handelsverein found itself printing emergency currency simply to keep retail transactions functioning. The Reichsbank could not supply notes fast enough as hyperinflation accelerated through October and November of that year — at its peak, the exchange rate reached 4.2 trillion marks to the dollar, and denominations that seemed absurd in July were inadequate by September.
A face value of 200 billion marks on a note issued by a local merchants' association captures the administrative absurdity of that moment better than any monetary history textbook does.