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50 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Duisburg (City of Duisburg) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Typographically composed Notgeld note printed in brown on a green guilloche underprint. The denomination numeral "50" is set in large bold type at centre, flanked by the words "MILLIONEN" on either side within a scroll cartouche, with "Millionen Marke" rendered below in ornate Gothic blackletter script. The issuing authority heading "NOTGELD DER STADT DUISBURG" appears at the top, with a payment clause in smaller Gothic text below the denomination, the place name "DUISBURG" and issue date "DEN 18. SEPTEMBER 1923" at lower left, and the signature of the Oberbürgermeister at lower right. A vertical strip at right carries the serial number. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown over a green guilloche underprint and centres on a large circular vignette containing an industrial harbour scene with cranes, masts, and waterway — an allusion to Duisburg's status as a major Rhine inland port. A shield at the centre of the vignette bears the numeral "50"; above the shield an anchor symbol and below it a crossed-hammer mining badge appear within diamond lozenges, referencing the city's dual identity as a port and industrial centre. The header band reads "STADT DUISBURG AM RHEIN" and the lower band carries "FÜNFZIG MILLIONEN MARK", with a vertical ornamental strip at left reading "FÜNFZIG MILLIONEN". |
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| Comments |
Duisburg's municipal notgeld issues of 1923 belong to the most chaotic phase of the hyperinflation — the period between the Ruhr occupation in January and the Rentenmark stabilization in November, when the Reichsbank's own printing capacity was overwhelmed and hundreds of cities, towns, and private firms were authorized to issue emergency currency. A 50-million-mark denomination would have been unremarkable by August of that year; by late October, it was barely worth a tram fare.
Municipal issues from the industrial Ruhr were sometimes deliberately delayed in payment by local authorities, who benefited from the time-value gap between printing and redemption — a quiet form of institutional arbitrage that briefly sustained city finances while destroying everyone else's.