Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
500 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Bezirksverband der Amtshauptmannschaft und Stadtrat Zittau |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Typographically elaborate Notgeld note printed in dark brown on cream paper, with the denomination spelled out in ornate Gothic blackletter script reading 'Fünfhundert Millionen' above the numeral '500 Mark 500', flanked by an intricate scrollwork cartouche at left. The validity clause states the note is accepted within the Bezirke der Amtshauptmannschaft und der Stadt Zittau, with issue date 'Zittau, den 15. Oktober 1923' and two manuscript signatures below the issuing authorities. A list of redemption banks in the Oberlausitz region is printed at the foot, with the printer's imprint 'VEREINIGTE DRUCKEREIEN P. GUTTE, ZITTAU' at lower right; a red-stamped serial number and series letter appear at the top. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 500 000 000 |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Zittau's local administrative body — the Amtshauptmannschaft and city council jointly — issued this half-billion Mark note during the most acute phase of the Weimar hyperinflation, when municipal and district authorities across Germany were authorized to produce their own emergency currency, Notgeld, simply to keep commerce moving. By late 1923, the Reichsbank could not print fast enough, and denominations that would have seemed absurd in January were routine by October.
Vereinigte Druckereien P. Gutte was a local Zittau printer, not a specialist banknote house — which is evident in surviving examples, where registration and ink saturation vary noticeably between printings. Signed by Lichten and Zwiegenberger on behalf of the issuing authority.