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5 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Siegkreis (Kreis Sieg), Regierungsbezirk Köln, Prussian Rhine Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Pink and teal letterpress note with a dense guilloche underprint across the entire field. Two vertical teal panels at left and right each bear the numeral '5' within a lozenge cartouche flanked by the text 'Sieg-' above and 'Kreis' below. The central field carries the large bold denomination legend 'Fünf Milliarden' with 'Gutschein über' above, a red serial number at upper right, and a body text in Gothic script stating acceptance by all public offices in the Regierungsbezirk Köln, dated 'Siegburg, den 18. Oktober 1923.' A circular red official stamp of the Siegkreis district appears at lower centre, accompanied by two manuscript signatures above the printed titles 'Der Landrat. I.V.' and 'Kreisdeputierter.' |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Official stamp |
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| Comments |
Siegkreis was one of dozens of German administrative districts forced into emergency currency during the hyperinflation of autumn 1923, when the Reichsmark was losing value faster than the Reichsbank could supply physical notes. A five-billion-mark denomination sounds grotesque, but by October 1923 it represented only a few days' purchasing power at best — the exchange rate against the dollar was deteriorating by the hour.
Rhenania-Druckerei in Bonn was a regional commercial printer, not a specialist security firm, and the official stamp was the primary — arguably the only meaningful — authentication device keeping counterfeits out.