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5 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt-Sparkasse Bielefeld |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | STADTSPARKASSE BIELEFELD ZAHLE GEGEN DIESEN SCHECK AN UNS ODER ÜBERBRINGER BIELEFELD, DEN 11.8.1923 STADTKÄMMEREI: AUS GUTHABEN FÜNF MILLIONEN MARK EINGELÖST WIRD DIESER SCHECK VON ALLEN KASSEN IN BIELEFELD U. IM KREISE HALLE DRUCK: E. GUNDLACH A.-G. BIELEFELD EINE MANSE (1 HUFE LAND) LIFERTE BIELEFELD AN STIFT HERFORD ANNO 1150 ZWEI UR... LE ALLER WERTE UND ARBEIT IST DIE QUE... ZEN HONIG ALS ABGABE + ARBEIT IST DIE... EINIG UND GLEICH, EIN VOLK UND EIN REI... |
| Reverse description | Green and black letterpress reverse dominated by a bold central vignette of multiple figures — representing the Grafen von Ravensberg and Bielefeld citizens — rendered in strong expressionist silhouette against a floral guilloche underprint. The denomination '5 MILLIONEN' appears in large numerals flanking the issuer's name 'STADT-SPARKASSE BIELEFELD' in an arched banner at the top centre. Running text borders on all four sides carry price-comparison and historical inscriptions referencing railway fares, commodity prices, and the date '18.5.1923', while labels 'BIELEFELDER' and 'HERFORDER' identify the respective groups of figures within the vignette. |
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| Comments |
Bielefeld's municipal savings bank became one of the more unusual actors in the Weimar hyperinflation not because of this note's face value — by late 1923 five million marks was barely sufficient for a loaf of bread — but because the Stadt-Sparkasse had already issued notgeld on unconventional materials including linen and silk, part of a deliberate local strategy to produce emergency currency that might resist devaluation through novelty and collector demand.
E. Gundlach, the local commercial printer responsible for this issue, was pressed into producing denominations that escalated almost weekly throughout 1923.