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500 000 000 000 Mark Reichsbanknote, overprint on 5000 Mark
| Issuer | Reichsbank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse of this hyperinflation-era emergency note presents the original 5000 Mark Reichsbanknote format with a bold black overprint reading '500 Milliarden Mark,' applied to adjust the face value during the acute monetary crisis of November 1923. The design retains the underlying guilloche patterning and typographic elements of the base note, with the Reichsbank eagle vignette and formal Gothic script inscriptions typical of German imperial-era paper currency. The overprint dominates the face, rendering the original denomination secondary to the emergency valuation. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse retains the printed underprint and guilloche ornamentation of the original 5000 Mark base note, with standard Reichsbank reverse text and legal tender inscriptions in Gothic typeface. A formal border surrounds the central text block, characteristic of German state paper money printing of the early 1920s. The overprint denomination is not repeated on the reverse, which preserves the appearance of the original pre-overprint issue. |
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| Comments |
By late 1923, Germany's hyperinflation had so thoroughly outpaced the Reichsbank's ability to commission and deliver freshly printed notes that the institution resorted to overprinting existing stock — in this case, the 5000 Mark series — with denominations eleven orders of magnitude higher. The 500 Milliarden (500,000,000,000) Mark value represented roughly the cost of a loaf of bread at the peak of the crisis, though that figure shifted day to day.
Over twelve million examples were printed, yet surviving specimens are far more common in collector hands than actual circulation would suggest — many were set aside as curiosities even at the time, already understood to be historically absurd.