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5 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Bezirksverband der Amtshauptmannschaft Löbau |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in black on cream-toned paper with a pale guilloche underprint, the obverse carries the heading NOTGELD at upper left and the serial number at upper right. The denomination is rendered in large, elaborate blackletter calligraphy reading Fünf Milliarden Mark, with the numeral value repeated in a decorative band below. A block of italic text sets out the redemption conditions, followed by the place and date of issue at lower left, and an autograph signature above the title Amtshauptmann at lower right; the printer's imprint appears at the very foot of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is the unprinted verso of this single-sided letterpress note, showing a plain cream paper surface with the obverse text visible in faint mirror image as show-through. No distinct design elements, vignettes, or inscriptions were applied to this side. |
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| Comments |
Löbau was a rural district in Saxony, and like hundreds of similar administrative bodies across Germany in late 1923, its Amtshauptmannschaft was forced into the absurd position of issuing emergency currency — Notgeld — simply to keep local commerce moving while the Reichsbank's own notes lost value faster than they could be printed and distributed. By September and October 1923, five billion marks was roughly the cost of a loaf of bread, and even that figure was quickly obsolete.
Gebrüder Güttler in nearby Zittau handled the printing, as they did for several Lausitz-region issuers during this period — proximity mattered enormously when turnaround time was measured in days rather than weeks.