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50 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Apolda (Thuringia), City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Size | 145 × 76 mm |
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| Obverse description | Printed in violet-purple on a pale lilac ground, the note is dominated by a large central guilloche underprint over which the denomination "Fünfzig Millionen Mark" is set in bold Gothic letterpress. The issuing authority title "Notgeld der Stadt Apolda" appears at the top centre, with the series designation upper left and a boxed serial number upper right; corner numerals "50" occupy all four angles within ornate guilloche borders. At the lower centre a small heraldic vignette of the Apolda town arms is flanked by two manuscript signatures above their printed titles, with the date "Apolda, am 25. September 1923" and the printer's imprint of Adolf Forker, Leipzig, completing the lower field. |
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| Obverse lettering | Notgeld der Stadt Apolda Serie A Fünfzig Millionen Mark zahlt die Stadtkasse Apolda gegen diesen Schein dem Einlieferer. Vier Wochen nach erfolgtem Aufruf verliert der Schein seine Gültigkeit. Apolda, am 25. September 1923. Der Stadtdirektor: Oberbürgermeister. Der Stadtrat: Vorsitzender. ADOLF FORKER, LEIPZIG |
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| Comments |
Apolda is primarily known as a center of the German hosiery and knitting industry — an odd origin point for a 50-million Mark emergency note, but the hyperinflation of 1923 forced municipalities across Thuringia to issue their own Notgeld simply to make payroll. By August and September of that year, Reichsbank currency was arriving so devalued and so slowly that local employers and city administrations had no practical alternative.
Adolf Forker in Leipzig handled a considerable volume of municipal emergency printing during this period. The denomination itself marks the note as a product of the mid-to-late 1923 acceleration — 50 million Marks would have been a meaningful sum in early summer, nearly worthless by November.