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 | Magistrat der Stadt Castrop (Prussian province of Westphalia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The back is printed in grey-blue on a cream ground with the same light floral underprint, enclosed within a plain ruled rectangular frame. The heading "NOTGELD DER STADT CASTROP" runs in bold capitals across both the top and bottom margins, while the large numeral denomination "5 Millionen" in bold letterpress occupies the centre field, flanked by decorative ornamental rules and the word "MARK" in spaced capitals. Guarantee and redemption clauses in German are set in smaller type above and below the central denomination block. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Official stamp |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Castrop was a mid-sized industrial town in the Ruhr — coal mining, chemical works, the usual Westphalian profile — and like hundreds of German municipalities in 1923, its local Magistrat was forced into emergency currency issuance when the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation. By the time notes in this denomination were reaching circulation, the purchasing power of the face value was eroding within days, sometimes hours, of issue.
The official stamp served as the primary authentication mechanism, a telling indicator of how improvised these local printing operations were. Castrop's notgeld at this level is less common than that of larger Westphalian cities — Dortmund and Bochum produced far greater volumes.