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50 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Apolda (City of Apolda, Thuringia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Blue-grey Notgeld note with an all-over geometric guilloche underprint forming a fine lattice of diamond and floral rosette patterns across the entire field. Four large circular guilloche rosettes occupy the four corners, each containing the numeral '50' in bold black Gothic typeface. The denomination 'Fünfzig Milliarden Mark' is printed in large black Fraktur script across the centre, above a block of text naming the issuing authority and payment conditions, dated Apolda, den 25. Oktober 1923, with two facsimile signature lines for 'Der Stadtdirektor' (Oberbürgermeister) and 'Der Stadtrat' (Vorsitzender). The series letter 'Serie L' appears at lower left and the serial number at lower right, with the printer's imprint 'ADOLF FORKER LEIPZIG' at the extreme lower right margin. The note bears two circular cancellation punch-holes through the centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Notgeld der Stadt Apolda Fünfzig Milliarden Mark zahlt die Stadtkasse Apolda gegen diesen Schein dem Einlieferer. Vier Wochen nach Aufruf verliert der Schein seine Gültigkeit Apolda, den 25. Oktober 1923 Der Stadtdirektor: Der Stadtrat: Oberbürgermeister Vorsitzender Serie L ADOLF FORKER LEIPZIG |
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| Comments |
Apolda's 50 Milliarden Mark note dates from the absolute peak of the Weimar hyperinflation — by late October 1923, when most of these municipal emergency issues were circulating, the Reichsbank's own printing presses could not produce denominations fast enough to meet daily wage payments. Hundreds of German municipalities, savings banks, and private firms obtained official authorization to issue their own Notgeld, with Adolf Forker in Leipzig supplying many of the smaller Thuringian towns that lacked access to major Frankfurt or Berlin printers.
Apolda was primarily a textile and stocking manufacturing town. Its workers were being paid in whatever paper the city could procure.