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5 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtkreis Arnstadt (City of Arnstadt, Thuringia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed note on pale green guilloche underprint within a decorative black border with arrow-point corner ornaments. The heading 'Notgeld des Stadtkreises Arnstadt' appears at top in bold Gothic script, above the large denomination legend 'Fünf Milliarden Mk.' in black Fraktur typeface. Below, a three-line legal redemption clause, the issue date 'Arnstadt, den 25. Oktober 1923', and two facsimile signatures with printed titles are set out, while the serial number and series designation appear vertically along the right margin alongside a circular city magistrate's seal. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black on an unadorned cream paper ground, with a single central vignette consisting of a scalloped cartouche formed by curved and pointed ornamental scrollwork enclosing the numeral '5' above the two-line denomination legend 'Milliarden / Mark' in bold serif type. The design is entirely typographic with no further imagery, giving the note a stark, utilitarian appearance typical of late hyperinflation-era Notgeld. |
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| Comments |
Arnstadt's five-billion-mark note was a product of the hyperinflation peak in late 1923, when German municipal authorities were legally authorized — and practically compelled — to issue their own emergency currency, Notgeld, to meet payroll and daily commerce as Reichsbank supply collapsed under the velocity of price increases. Otto Böttner was a local printing firm, not a banknote specialist, and that shows in the production values.
Thuringian municipal Notgeld of this denomination has a short window of relevance — by late November 1923, the Rentenmark stabilization had effectively killed the series before most notes completed a full circulation cycle.