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5 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Siegkreis (Kreis Sieg), Regierungsbezirk Köln, Prussian Rhine Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Rectangular |
| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gutschein über Fünf Milliarden Sieg-Kreis Dieser Gutschein wird von allen öffentlichen Kassen im Regierungsbezirk Köln in Zahlung genommen. Der Siegkreis haftet für die Einlösung. Siegburg, den 18. Oktober 1923. Der Landrat. I.V. Kreisdeputierter. Umlaufsfähig im ganzen Regierungsbezirk Köln Gültig bis zum 1. April 1924. RHENANIA-DRUCKEREI BONN |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Circular red ink official stamp of the Siegkreis district authority applied to the face of the note |
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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.