Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Ostelbisches Braunkohlensyndikat G.m.b.H., Berlin |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Salmon and pale green bicolour note with a decorative dot-and-dash border running the full perimeter. Two crossed-hammer mining vignettes appear in the upper left and upper right corners, emblematic of the lignite mining industry. The text is set in a blackletter Gothic script throughout, with the denomination 'Drei Millionen Mark' rendered in a large bold typeface at centre, flanked above by the issuer's authorisation clause and below by the place and date of issue 'Berlin NW7, im August 1923' and the full corporate name 'Ostelbisches Braunkohlensyndikat G.m.b.H.'; a serial number and two manuscript signatures appear along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Notgeld für den ostelbischen Braunkohlenbergbau Das Ostelbische Braunkohlensyndikat G. m. b. H., Berlin, zahlt gegen diesen Notgeldschein binnen einem Monat nach Aufruf durch öffentliche Bekanntmachung einen Betrag von Drei Millionen Mark (Reichspapiergeld) Genehmigt durch Verfügung des Reichsfinanzministers und des Handelsministers Berlin NW7, im August 1923 Braunkohlenhaus Ostelbisches Braunkohlensyndikat G. m. b. H. I Nr |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Ostelbisches Braunkohlensyndikat — the East Elbian Brown Coal Syndicate — was a cartel of lignite producers operating in the mining districts east of the Elbe, principally in the Lausitz region. During the hyperinflation of 1923, German industrial firms and municipal bodies were legally permitted to issue their own emergency currency (Notgeld) when the Reichsbank could not supply sufficient physical notes to meet payroll. A coal syndicate issuing three-million-mark denominations was unremarkable by August 1923 standards; by November, such figures were obsolete within days of printing.
The DeNG 7/8#364b reference places this among the later corporate issues, when the inflation rate had already made sequential denomination increases nearly impossible to track. Corporate Notgeld from industrial syndicates was typically redeemed quickly and destroyed, giving surviving specimens a disproportionate scarcity relative to their original print runs.