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 Overprint on 500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Stendal (City of Stendal) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Sin texto. |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Stendal's billion-mark overprint is a product of Germany's hyperinflation peak in late 1923, when municipal authorities were legally permitted — and practically forced — to issue their own emergency currency, known as Notgeld, to keep local commerce functioning. The Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough. The 500,000 Mark base note was already obsolete almost the moment it was produced; stamping a 5,000,000,000 figure over it was cheaper and faster than commissioning an entirely new design.
The overprint practice also creates authentication headaches. Forged overprints on genuine base notes are documented across the Notgeld series, and the watermark in the paper is the primary check against this.