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500 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Amt Rauxel (Municipality of Rauxel) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 000 000 Mark (500 000 000) |
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| Obverse description | Horizontal format Notgeld note printed in red and pale green. A large-format Gothic-script denomination "500 Millionen Mark" dominates the centre, above which the title "Notgeld des Amtes Rauxel" appears in bold blackletter. The underprint vignette consists of a repeating pattern of townscape vignettes — multi-turreted civic buildings interspersed with small heraldic shields bearing the monogram "AR" — arranged in a grid across the entire field. A circular official dry-stamp of Amt Rauxel, Kreis Dortmund-Land, bearing an eagle, is applied at centre-bottom between two manuscript signatures, with the serial number printed vertically along the left margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Notgeld des Amtes Rauxel. 500 Millionen Mark zahlen die Kassen des Amtes Rauxel dem Einlieferer dieses Scheines. Dieser Schein verliert seine Gültigkeit 1 Monat nach erfolgtem Aufruf in der Castroper Zeitung. Rauxel (Landkreis Dortmund), den 20. Oktober 1923. Der Amtmann: Der Amtsbeigeordnete: (Translation: Emergency money of the Rauxel authority. 500 million marks — the offices of the Rauxel authority will pay the bearer of this note. This note loses its validity one month after the call published in the Castroper Zeitung. Rauxel (Dortmund district), 20 October 1923. The Bailiff: The Deputy Bailiff:) |
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| Comments |
Rauxel was a small industrial municipality in the Ruhr — coal country — and its decision to issue 500-million-Mark notes in 1923 was a direct consequence of the French and Belgian occupation of the region that began in January of that year. The Reichsbank could not keep pace with hyperinflation running at rates that doubled prices every few days, so thousands of German municipalities, firms, and utilities printed their own emergency currency: Notgeld. Rauxel was one of hundreds.
A print run of over twelve million pieces for a single denomination from a town of this size reflects just how rapidly the zeros were becoming meaningless by late 1923. Within weeks of issue, 500 million Marks would barely cover a loaf of bread.