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 millions Mark - Westfalen Freiherr vom Stein
| Issuer | Province of Westphalia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Gold plated tombac |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | 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 | Central field features the rearing Saxon horse (Sachsenross), the heraldic symbol of Westphalia, depicted in high relief facing right with forelegs raised. The denomination '50 Millionen Mk.' is inscribed in two lines in the lower left field beneath the horse. The circular legend 'Notgeld der Provinz Westfalen' runs along the upper periphery in Fraktur blackletter script, while the date '·1923·' appears at the base, flanked by decorative stops. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Notgeld der Provinz Westfalen 50 Millionen Mk. ⁃1923⁃ |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This piece belongs to the vast wave of German notgeld issued as the Reichsmark collapsed in 1923 — a collapse so total that by November of that year a single US dollar exchanged for over four trillion marks. Provincial and municipal authorities across Germany printed and struck emergency currency simply to pay wages, often in denominations that doubled or tripled within days of issue. Westphalia's choice to honor Freiherr vom Stein — the Prussian reformer who dismantled serfdom and restructured municipal governance after Napoleon's humiliations — carried obvious political charge in a moment of renewed national crisis.
The Funck references distinguish between 12A and 12B variants, likely reflecting differences in the depth or application of the gold plating run.