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500 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Duisburg (City of Duisburg) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| In circulation to | 1923 |
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| Obverse description | Salmon-pink Notgeld issued on 25 September 1923, with a dense guilloche underprint of repeated '500' numerals across the entire field. The large teal denomination numeral '500' dominates the upper centre, flanked by the inscriptions 'DUISBURG' and 'AM RHEIN' in bold letterpress, with 'MILLIONEN MARK' set below in heavy gothic type. The lower portion carries the date, a circular official seal of the Stadt Duisburg Notgeld, a manuscript signature under the title 'DER OBERBÜRGERMEISTER', and a red serial number at lower left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | FÜNFHUNDERT MILLIONEN MARK DUISBURG AM RHEIN 500 MILLIONEN MARK NOTGELD DER STADT DUISBURG |
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| Comments |
Duisburg's 500-million-mark note dates from the peak of the German hyperinflation — autumn 1923, when municipal and commercial issuers across the Rhineland were printing emergency currency (Notgeld) because Reichsbank denominations were obsolete almost the moment they were issued. Duisburg's position in the occupied Ruhr, under Franco-Belgian control since January 1923, added a particular wrinkle: the occupation authorities restricted normal economic activity, accelerating the local collapse and forcing civic bodies to self-issue at a pace that bordered on absurd.
Locally printed series like this one typically show rougher production values than centrally issued notes — worth checking the serial numbering for inconsistencies, as overprinting and hand-stamping were common shortcuts when denominations were revised faster than new plates could be made.