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5 000 000 Mark Handelskammer
| Issuer | Handelskammer für die Provinz Birkenfeld |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 000 000 Marks (5 000 000) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Ochre-toned letterpress Notgeld in two panels: the left panel carries a large vertical guilloche medallion with the denomination '5 Millionen' overprinted in bold Gothic type, serial number, and issuer name below; the right panel presents the voucher text within a dotted border with an ornate guilloche underprint, date 'Idar, den 15. August 1923', and two manuscript signatures beneath the roles of Vorsitzender and Syndikus. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Ochre letterpress reverse with a beaded rectangular border and decorative scroll ornaments at each corner. A central circular guilloche medallion carries a ribbon-and-arrow motif surrounding the bold upright inscription 'HANDELSKAMMER PROVINZ BIRKENFELD'. The denomination '5 Millionen' appears in diagonal banderoles at all four corners, two of which are inverted. |
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| Comments |
The Handelskammer für die Provinz Birkenfeld operated under unusual political circumstances — Birkenfeld was a Prussian exclave, geographically separated from the rest of Prussia and surrounded by Oldenburg and smaller territories. During the 1923 hyperinflation, municipal and chamber-of-commerce Notgeld at this denomination level was emergency currency in the most literal sense, issued to cover wage payments as Reichsbank supply collapsed under the printing demands of the reparations crisis.
By mid-1923, five million marks was approximately a daily wage. Within weeks of most such issues, the face value was economically worthless.