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50 000 000 Mark Phoenix Aktien-Gesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb
| Issuer | Phoenix Aktien-Gesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Typeset notgeld on pale green-tinted paper, enclosed within an ornate letterpress border of repeated floral and scroll motifs with the denomination '50 MILLIONEN' running vertically along both side margins. The upper and lower borders carry the legend 'FÜNFZIG MILLIONEN MARK' in bold capitals, while the central field bears the issuer name 'PHOENIX' in large display type above the company subtitle, followed by the voucher text 'GUTSCHEIN ÜBER' and the denomination 'Fünfzig Millionen MARK' rendered in large copperplate script. The date 'DÜSSELDORF, den 5. Sept. 1923' appears at lower left alongside the issuer name repeated at lower right above two manuscript signatures, with the printer's imprint 'GREVEN & BECHTOLD, KÖLN' at the very foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a large central vignette of a phoenix rising with wings fully spread from stylised flames rendered in bold letterpress line engraving against a stippled background, the mythological bird serving as the corporate emblem of the issuing company. The denomination 'Fünfzig Millionen' is printed in two flanking cartouches at upper left and upper right of the vignette. Below the vignette, a bold sans-serif inscription 'PHOENIX' spans the full width of the note above the company name 'Aktien-Gesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb', all set within a decorative border imitating dressed stonework at the base and sides. |
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| Comments |
Phoenix AG was one of the major Ruhr coal and steel combines, and like dozens of industrial firms during the hyperinflation peak of mid-to-late 1923, it issued its own emergency currency — Notgeld — to pay workers when the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute denominations fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. A 50-million Mark note that would have seemed obscene in early 1923 was, by August, barely enough for a loaf of bread.
Greven & Bechtold in Cologne were a commercial printing house pressed into high-volume emergency work during this period, not specialist security printers.