Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
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!
5 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Essen (City of Essen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NOTGELD DER STADT ESSEN 5 Milliarden Mk zahlt die Stadt Essen dem Einlieferer dieses Scheines 1 Monat nach Aufruf in den Essener Tageszeitungen. Essen, am 15. Sept. 1923 Der Oberbürgermeister i.V. 5 MILLIARDEN MARK 5 000 000 MK |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 5 MILLIARDEN MK 5 000 000 000 MK NOTGELD DER STADT ESSEN |
| 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 |
Essen's municipal government — like dozens of German cities in late 1923 — was forced to issue its own emergency currency as the Reichsmark collapsed under hyperinflation. By October 1923, the official exchange rate had passed one trillion marks to the dollar, and denominations were escalating weekly just to keep pace with basic transactions. Cities printed notgeld not as a novelty but because there was no functional alternative.
Municipal issues from the Ruhr specifically carry an added layer: the French and Belgian occupation of the region beginning January 1923 had severely disrupted normal economic and banking functions, accelerating the local inflationary spiral beyond even the national rate.