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 Mark
| Issuer | Landkreis Essen (District of Essen) |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 | Printed in brown on cream paper, the obverse is framed by a fine guilloche border with a repeating geometric underprint at centre. The denomination "Fünf Millionen Mark" is set in bold Gothic blackletter script across the middle field, above a clause stating redeemability one month after public notice in the Essen daily press. The issuer's name "Der Landkreis Essen" appears in roman type at the top, with series letter "E" to the upper left, the date "Essen, den 15. August 1923" at lower left, and a manuscript signature of the Landrat to the lower right; the serial number is printed at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 5 Millionen Mk. |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Landkreis Essen was one of hundreds of German municipal and district authorities that issued Notgeld during the hyperinflation of 1923, when the Reichsbank simply could not produce denominations fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. By the time notes of this magnitude were being printed, five million marks would buy little more than a loaf of bread — and within weeks, even that had changed.
District-level issues like this one were typically printed locally on short notice, which accounts for the variable paper quality and inconsistent ink coverage common across the series. The authorization to issue came from emergency provisions, not any formal banking charter.