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5 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Neumünster (City of Neumünster) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Printer | H. Simonsen, Neumünsterer Buch- und Kunstdruckerei, Neumünster |
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| Obverse description | Printed in dark green on cream paper, the obverse bears the issuer's title 'STADT NEUMÜNSTER' in bold letterpress at the top, flanked by the numeral '5' in decorated corner cartouches. The central text block carries the voucher designation 'GUTSCHEIN' with a serial number field, above the large-format denomination legend 'Fünf Millionen Mark' in bold display type, with redemption clauses in two columns below. At the foot, a detailed panoramic cityscape vignette of Neumünster's skyline — including church spires and factory chimneys — spans the full width, accompanied by two manuscript signatures above the authority lines 'Der Magistrat' and 'Das Stadtverordnetenkollegium', and a faint circular official stamp is visible in the centre field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in dark green and golden-yellow on cream paper, with the obverse design showing through in mirror image due to the thin paper stock. At centre, an octagonal vignette encloses a silhouette of industrial factory buildings with smoking chimneys, set above a shield bearing the city arms, the entire composition surrounded by an elaborate foliate and guilloche underprint in golden yellow with the inscription 'NEUMÜNSTER' above. The denomination '5.000.000 Mk.' appears in bold letterpress on both the left and right of the central vignette, and the printer's imprint of H. Simonsen is placed below the central device. |
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| Comments |
Neumünster's municipal administration, like hundreds of German cities in 1923, was legally empowered to issue its own notgeld as the Reichsbank's printing presses failed to keep pace with hyperinflation. By the time denominations reached seven figures, the practical shelf life of a note was measured in days — sometimes hours. A 5,000,000 Mark note issued in July would have been worth a fraction of its face value by August.
H. Simonsen's local print shop handled the run in-house, which is why the production quality varies noticeably across surviving examples. Municipal notgeld of this period was a stopgap, not a considered monetary instrument, and it shows.