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500 000 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Magistrat der Stadt Bergedorf |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in dark blue-grey on plain paper stock, enclosed within a decorative chain-link border running the full perimeter. A vignette of the Bergedorf townscape with church steeple and civic buildings occupies the centre-left background as an underprint behind the bold denomination legend. The numeral "500" appears at upper left and upper right, with the full text "Fünfhundert Milliarden Mark" in large gothic letterpress type across the centre; below, a two-line redemption clause, the place-and-date line, and two manuscript facsimile signatures of Der Magistrat complete the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gutschein der Stadt Bergedorf 500 Fünfhundert Milliarden Mark 500 Die Einlösung erfolgt durch die Stadtkasse gegen andere Zahlungsmittel :: Der Gutschein kann vom Magistrat vom 1. Dezember 1923 ab aufgerufen werden Bergedorf, den 29. Oktober 1923 Der Magistrat B. S. V. Bergedorf |
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| Comments |
Bergedorf was an independent municipality northeast of Hamburg in 1923, and like hundreds of German towns during the hyperinflation crisis, its Magistrat issued its own emergency currency — Notgeld — when the Reichsbank could no longer supply denominations fast enough to match collapsing purchasing power. By late 1923, five hundred billion marks would barely cover a loaf of bread, and notes of this magnitude were being designed, printed, and exhausted within days of release.
Local printing meant short runs and inconsistent paper stock. Bergedorf examples from this period show variation in ink saturation that points to overworked or poorly maintained presses running under deadline pressure.