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5 000 000 Mark Reichsbanknote
| Issuer | Reichsbank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Reichsbanknote Fünf Millionen Mark Die Reichsbank Berlin, den 1. August 1923 |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a plain typeset composition centered on the large numeral denomination within a guilloche underprint, with formal legal text in Gothic typeface. Anti-counterfeiting notice and legal tender declarations appear in smaller print across the lower register. The overall design is austere and utilitarian, consistent with the rapidly produced emergency currency of the 1923 hyperinflationary period. |
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| Comments |
By mid-1923, the Reichsbank was printing notes faster than the ink could dry — literally. The 5,000,000 Mark denomination, unthinkable even a year earlier, had a circulation lifespan measured in days before inflation rendered it effectively worthless for ordinary transactions. Denominations escalated so rapidly that printers resorted to overprinting existing stocks rather than designing new plates, though this particular issue carried its own dedicated design.
The print run of just over 12 million is modest by hyperinflation standards — the later billion and trillion Mark issues dwarfed it considerably. By November 1923, 5,000,000 Marks bought almost nothing.