Catalog
5 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Kandern (City of Kandern, Federal state of Baden) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in dark purple on a pale pink ground, the face of this Notgeld Gutschein carries an all-over underprint of repeating amphora-shaped vignettes within a scalloped border frame. The issuer's name 'Stadtgemeinde Kandern' runs across the top in Gothic script, flanked at left and right by the numeral '5' and the word 'Milliarden' in bold type. The denomination 'Fünf Milliarden Mark' is set in large Gothic lettering at centre, above the validity clause 'Gültig bis zum Aufruf' and the issue date 'Kandern, 3. November 1923'; the lower left bears a circular municipal seal of Kandern, while the serial number in red and the manuscript signature of the Gemeinderat appear in the lower portion. |
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| Obverse lettering | Stadtgemeinde Kandern 5 Milliarden Gutschein über Fünf Milliarden Mark Gültig bis zum Aufruf Kandern, 3. November 1923 Der Gemeinderat: No Buchdr. Fritz Günther, Lörrach |
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Kandern is a small town in the far southwest of Baden, close to the Swiss and French borders — not the sort of place one expects to find five-billion-mark emergency currency. But by late 1923, municipal authorities across Germany were printing their own Notgeld simply to keep commerce moving, as the Reichsbank's output could not keep pace with hyperinflation that was doubling prices within hours. Fritz Günther's print shop in nearby Lörrach handled the job, which was standard enough for small-town issues of this period.
The official stamp substitutes for more sophisticated security — the entire anti-counterfeiting burden placed on a single ink impression, which tells you everything about how long anyone expected these notes to remain valid.