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5 000 000 000 Mark Altonaisches Unterstützungs-Institut
| Issuer | Altonaisches Unterstützungs-Institut |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Cream-toned notgeld on plain paper stock bearing a vertical ornamental vignette at left incorporating the issuer's name and the Sparkasse founding year 1799 in Gothic lettering, with a red serial number printed vertically along the left margin. The denomination 'Fünf Milliarden Mark' is set in large bold Gothic type at centre, above a four-line clause in German script stating acceptance at the issuer's counters and the expiry date of 30 November 1923. Dated 'Altona, den 10. Oktober 1923' below, the note is validated by two circular institutional dry-stamp seals bearing a city view, two manuscript signatures, and the printed issuer name 'Altonaisches Unterstützungs-Institut'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is entirely unprinted, presenting the plain cream paper stock with visible fold lines and natural age toning. A faint show-through of the obverse denomination text 'Fünf Milliarden Mark' appears in mirror image, together with the ghost impression of one of the circular institutional seals. |
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| Comments |
The Altonaisches Unterstützungs-Institut was a mutual aid institution in Altona — then still an independent city under Prussian administration, not yet absorbed into Hamburg — rather than a conventional bank or municipal treasury. Its decision to issue emergency currency at the five-billion-mark level places this squarely in the hyperinflationary peak of late 1923, when denominations that would have seemed fictional eighteen months earlier were routine.
H.W. Köbner & Co. in Altona were a local commercial printer, not a specialist banknote firm. That shows.