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5 000 000 Mark Handelskammer
| Issuer | Handelskammer Aachen (Chamber of Commerce Aachen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 000 000 Mark (5 000 000) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Notgeld voucher (Gutschein) printed in dark brown on a cream-coloured paper with a floral guilloche underprint throughout the field. The issuer name "Handelskammer Aachen." appears in ornate script at the top centre beneath a serial number cartouche, with the denomination "Fünf Millionen Mark" rendered in large bold blackletter script dominating the centre. A circular embossed stamp of the Handelskammer zu Aachen appears at lower left, alongside the date "Aachen, den 18. August 1923," a redemption clause in small roman type, and two facsimile signatures at lower right; the denomination value "5000000" is repeated in the left and right margins within the decorative border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | No second image provided; reverse description unavailable. |
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| Comments |
The Handelskammer Aachen was one of hundreds of German commercial and municipal bodies forced into emergency currency issuance during the hyperinflation of 1923, when the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to meet demand. At the five-million-mark denomination, this note dates to a period when that sum would purchase perhaps a newspaper — the exchange rate against the dollar was deteriorating by the hour, not the day.
Aug. Heinrigs was a local Aachen printer, not a specialist banknote firm, which is exactly the point: by mid-1923, notgeld issuers were working with whoever had a press nearby.