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50 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtrat Amberg (City Council of Amberg) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | DeNG 12#88k |
| Obverse description | Printed on firm, smooth cream-coloured paper stock with all text and design elements rendered in reddish-brown letterpress ink. The face carries the large denomination numeral '50' alongside the issuer's name 'Stadt Amberg' and the value in words 'Milliarden Mark', surrounded by a plain rectangular border. The serial number is applied in black raster print in a five-digit format. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Droplet (Tropfen) watermark pattern; Keller #186. |
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| Comments |
Amberg, a mid-sized town in Bavaria, was among hundreds of German municipalities forced to issue their own emergency denominations during the hyperinflationary collapse of 1923. By the time this fifty-billion-mark note was printed, the Reichsmark's purchasing power had deteriorated so catastrophically that local authorities could not wait for centrally issued currency to reach them — printing locally and spending it within days was the only practical option.
The watermark is notable for a municipal issue of this period; most Notgeld at these absurd denominations dispensed with security features entirely. That Amberg retained one suggests this was printed on stock already held, not paper sourced specifically for emergency use.