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 Mark Deutsche Reichsbahn
| Issuer | Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railway) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse repeats the 'DEUTSCHE REICHSBAHN' title panel at top and bottom borders within the same interlaced geometric guilloche border strips as the obverse, with the two Reichsverkehrsminister eagle medallions faintly rendered at centre-left and centre-right. The Fraktur denomination lettering is discernible across the central field, printed in a markedly paler tone than the obverse. The overall impression is of a simplified, washed-out repetition of the obverse layout, consistent with the single-colour letterpress production typical of German inflation-era emergency currency. |
| Reverse lettering | DEUTSCHE REICHSBAHN |
| 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 Deutsche Reichsbahn issued its own emergency currency during the hyperinflation of 1923 because the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to meet payroll. Railway workers numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and the Reichsbahn — as a state-owned enterprise with its own financial administration — was authorized to issue notgeld to cover wages before the notes lost meaningful value in transit. This was not a fringe phenomenon: several major public utilities and industrial concerns did the same thing that year.
By the time this 50,000,000 Mark denomination was necessary, the figure itself was already becoming obsolete within weeks of printing.