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50 000 000 000 Mark

Issuer Stadt Frankfurt am Main (City of Frankfurt am Main)
Year 1923
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Currency Mark (1914-1924)
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Obverse lettering Stadt Frankfurt am Main GUTSCHEIN über FÜNFZIG MILLIARDEN MARK Die Einlösung dieses Scheines erfolgt bei der Stadthauptkasse Frankfurt a. M. Der Zeitpunkt, mit dem die Gültigkeit abläuft, wird öffentlich bekannt gemacht. FRANKFURT A. M., 25 Oktober 1923.
(Translation: City of Frankfurt am Main COUPON above FIFTY BILLION MARK The redemption of this ticket takes place at the Stadthauptkasse Frankfurt a. M. The time at which the validity expires will be made public. FRANKFURT A. M., October 25, 1923.)
Reverse description Printed in olive-grey, the reverse centres on a detailed vignette of a Gothic church tower — consistent with the Bartholomäusdom (Frankfurt Cathedral) — flanked by a half-timbered building with figures in the foreground evoking a street scene. The central vignette is framed by vertical guilloche border strips, with large circular rosette medallions bearing the numeral "50" at both left and right, all enclosed within an outer geometric border.
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Frankfurt am Main issued its own emergency currency — Notgeld — during the hyperinflation of 1923 because the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute federal notes fast enough to meet demand. By the time denominations reached the fifty-billion mark range, inflation was so severe that the purchasing power of a note could collapse within hours of issuance, rendering same-day wages nearly worthless by evening.

J. Maubach & Co. was a local Frankfurt printer pressed into service alongside dozens of regional firms across Germany that year. The note exists because the state had already failed to contain it.

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