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50 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Landkreis Greiz (District of Greiz) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 110 × 75 mm |
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| Obverse description | Notgeld voucher (Gutschein) printed on pale green guilloche-patterned paper with a fine lace-like underprint throughout. The denomination '50 000 000' appears in large bold Gothic numerals at upper left and upper right, with the value in words 'Fünfzig Millionen Mark' rendered in large decorative Fraktur script across the centre, underlined. A circular arms vignette of the Landkreis Greiz occupies the centre field, above a three-line redemption guarantee text and the issue date 'Greiz, am 3. Oktober 1923'; two manuscript signatures appear below the titles of the issuing officers, with a serial number at lower left and a series letter 'C' at lower left margin. A vertical anti-counterfeiting warning legend is printed along the right edge. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Large circular red official ink stamp of the Landkreis Greiz applied to the reverse, with an eagle device and ornate border. |
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| Comments |
Landkreis Greiz was one of hundreds of German local authorities forced to print their own emergency currency during the hyperinflationary collapse of 1923, when the Reichsmark was depreciating so fast that the Reichsbank could not print and distribute denominations quickly enough to keep commerce moving. By late summer of that year, 50 million marks would barely purchase a loaf of bread — a figure that had been unimaginable twelve months earlier.
The official stamp served as the primary authentication mechanism, a deliberate low-cost solution when elaborate printing security was pointless for a note expected to be worthless within weeks. Greiz, a small textile-industry town in Thuringia, had no standing printing infrastructure for currency, so production was necessarily improvised and local.