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5 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Altona (City of Altona) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | At left, a woodcut-style vignette of a tall church tower set within foliage is rendered in fine black letterpress. The denomination 'Fünf Millionen Mark' occupies the central and right portion in bold Gothic blackletter type over a decorative guilloche underprint, with a red serial number in the upper right corner. The lower section carries the issuing authority text, the date 'Altona, 15. September 1923', and three manuscript signatures flanked by two circular city seals. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Aushilfsschein der Stadt Altona Fünf Millionen Mark Dieser Schein wird von allen städtischen Kassen und in Altona befindlichen Banken in Zahlung genommen. Altona, 15. September 1923 Namens der Stadt Altona |
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| Comments |
Altona was still an independent Prussian city in 1923 — it would not be absorbed into Hamburg until 1937 — and like hundreds of German municipalities during the hyperinflation, it exercised its temporary authority to issue emergency currency when Reichsbank notes simply could not keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. By the time denominations reached the millions, the notes were often outdated before the ink dried.
H.W. Körner & Co. was a local Altona printer, not a specialist banknote firm, which shows in the comparatively modest production quality typical of municipal Notgeld at this scale.