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| Issuer | Stadt Düsseldorf (City of Düsseldorf) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in dark brown and ochre on cream paper, the obverse is centred by the municipal arms of Düsseldorf — a crowned lion passant on a hatched shield — set against a fine guilloche underprint. The denomination "Fünfzigtausend Mark" is rendered in bold blackletter script spanning the full width, with the numeral "50000" in the upper border, while the issue date "Düsseldorf, den 15. Juli 1923" and a facsimile signature of the Oberbürgermeister appear to the right. The series and serial number are positioned at lower left, with the printer's imprint "L. Schwann · Düsseldorf" at the foot. |
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| Obverse lettering | 50000 Die Stadt Düsseldorf zahlt bei ihren sämtlichen Kassen dem Vorzeiger Fünfzigtausend Mark Der Zeitpunkt der Einlösung wird öffentlich bekannt gemacht Düsseldorf, den 15. Juli 1923 Der Oberbürgermeister Reihe 1 Nr. L. Schwann · Düsseldorf |
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| Comments |
During the hyperinflation of 1923, German municipal and regional authorities were legally permitted to issue their own emergency currency — Notgeld — to compensate for the chronic shortage of Reichsbank notes, which could not be printed fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. Stadt Düsseldorf was among hundreds of such issuers. L. Schwann was a Düsseldorf-based commercial printer and publisher, not a specialist security printer, which is entirely typical of this period when normal procurement standards had become irrelevant.
At 50,000 Mark, this denomination would have felt substantial in early 1923 and worthless by autumn.