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500 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt- und Landkreis Gelsenkirchen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 153 × 80 mm |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress on white paper, with a decorative border composed of ornamental corner pieces bearing the denomination '500 MILLIONEN' in large numerals, flanked by foliate motifs. The centre carries the large Gothic-script title 'Fünfhundert Millionen Mark' above the word 'NOTGELD', followed by the issuing authority inscription and the date 28 September 1923. Two circular official seals appear in the lower portion — the city seal of Gelsenkirchen at left and the Kreisausschuss seal at right — accompanied by two manuscript signatures: that of the Oberbürgermeister at left and of the Kreisdeputierter Werner on behalf of the Kreisausschuss at right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 500 MILLIONEN Reihe A Nº 015736 |
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| Comments |
Gelsenkirchen's half-billion Mark note dates from the autumn of 1923, when German municipal and regional authorities were legally permitted — effectively forced — to issue their own emergency currency, known as Notgeld, because the Reichsbank could not print fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation. By the time notes of this denomination were entering circulation, prices were doubling in hours rather than days.
Stadt- und Landkreis Gelsenkirchen was a coal and steel district at the heart of the Ruhr, a region still reeling from the Franco-Belgian occupation that had begun in January of that year — a factor that accelerated the inflation catastrophe considerably. The currency reform of November 1923 rendered all such issues worthless almost immediately upon introduction.