Catalog
500 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Danzig (City of Danzig) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1923) |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette consists of a circular medallion bearing a portrait of philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), set within an ornamental surround of vegetal and foliate motifs. Denomination and issuing authority inscribed in period Fraktur lettering, with the legend identifying the note as a Notgeldschein of the Stadtgemeinde Danzig. Date of issue, 26 September 1923, appears beneath the authority inscription alongside the senate authorization text. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 500 Millionen Mark deutſche Reichswährung Dieſer Notgeldſchein wird ungütlig, wenn er nicht inner- halb zweier Wochen nach Aufforderung des Senats, Verwaltung der Stadtgemeinde Danzig, bei der Städtiſchen Kämmereikaſſe Danzig eingelöſt wird. |
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| Comments |
Danzig's hyperinflation notgeld occupies a peculiar corner of Weimar-era emergency currency. The Free City of Danzig, technically outside the German Reich but sharing its economic collapse, ran its own inflationary spiral in 1923 — municipal authorities issuing denominations that would have been unthinkable eighteen months earlier. By the time nine-zero figures appeared on paper, the printing kept pace with depreciation only in the loosest sense.
The "Printed: 30.04.1945" field in this catalog entry almost certainly reflects a data entry error — that date is the day Hitler died in Berlin, well after Danzig had fallen to Soviet forces. Treat that field with skepticism.