Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 000 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion
| Issuer | Reichsbahndirektion Frankfurt am Main |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 000 000 000 Mark (50 000 000 000) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Notgeld voucher (Gutschein) printed in violet-purple letterpress on plain paper, with a full-field guilloche underprint of interlocking rosettes and wavy-line latticework. The header reads 'Reichsbahndirektion Frankfurt a.M.' above the central denomination 'Fünfzig Milliarden Mark' in large Fraktur blackletter, followed by a block of redemption text in German; three manuscript signatures accompany an impressed circular seal at lower left bearing the German Imperial Eagle with the legend 'REICHSBAHN DIREKTION FRANKFURT (MAIN)'. The numeric denomination '50000000000' is repeated in bold digits along the lower margin, with the printer's imprint 'J. MAUBACH & CO. G.M.B.H. FRANKFURT A/M.' at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Reichsbahndirektion Frankfurt a.M. GUTSCHEIN Fünfzig Milliarden Mark zahlt die Eisenbahn-Hauptkasse Frankfurt a.M. gegen diesen Gutschein dem Einlieferer, sobald gesetzliche Zahlungsmittel wieder zur Verfügung stehen. Der Gutschein wird von unseren sämtlichen Kassen an Zahlungsstatt angenommen. Der Zeitpunkt, mit dem die Gültigkeit abläuft, wird öffentlich bekannt gemacht werden. Frankfurt a.M., 22. Oktober 1923. Reichsbahndirektion: 50000000000 J. MAUBACH & CO. G.M.B.H. FRANKFURT A/M. |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The German State Railway directorates — the Reichsbahndirektionen — were authorized to issue emergency currency (Notgeld) during the hyperinflation of 1923 when the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to meet demand. This note from the Frankfurt directorate was denominated at 50 billion Mark, a figure that had been unimaginable even twelve months earlier. By late 1923, it barely covered a tram fare.
J. Maubach & Co. was a Frankfurt commercial printer pressed into currency production alongside dozens of other local firms during this period — the work was logistically necessary, not prestigious. The Rentenmark stabilization of November 1923 rendered the entire issue worthless within weeks of printing.