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5 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt- und Landkreis Hagen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Typeset Notgeld voucher printed in dark violet-brown on plain paper, with a dense wavy-line guilloche underprint filling the central field and flanking side panels. The denomination '5.000.000' is set vertically in large bold numerals in the left and right border columns, while the central text block carries the heading 'Gutschein' with a serial number, the issuing authority 'des Stadt- u. LandKreises Hagen', and the value legend 'Fünf Millionen Mark.' in large display type. Below, a smaller-type clause states the validity period to 1 October 1923 and the redemption offices, dated 'Hagen i. W., den 13. August 1923,' with printed titles 'Der Landrat:' and 'Der Oberbürgermeister:' above two manuscript facsimile signatures. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain typeset reverse printed in black on unadorned paper, divided by the same vertical side columns bearing '5.000.000' in large bold numerals. The central text panel carries a bearer-liability clause and a validity notice, dated 'Hagen i. W., den 13. August 1923,' closing with the printed titles 'Der Landrat:' and 'Der Oberbürgermeister:' above two manuscript facsimile signatures; a faint circular ink stamp is visible in the upper right area of the central field. |
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| Comments |
Hagen's municipal authorities, like hundreds of German towns in the summer of 1923, were forced into printing their own emergency currency — Notgeld — because Reichsbank notes were losing value faster than they could be shipped and distributed. A five-million-mark denomination sounds extraordinary, but by mid-1923 it was roughly a tram fare. Within weeks of this note's issue, it would have been functionally worthless as hyperinflation rendered eight and nine-figure denominations necessary.
Locally printed Notgeld from this period survives in larger quantities than its fragility suggests — hoarded almost immediately by collectors who recognized the absurdity unfolding around them.