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500 000 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Leipzig (City of Leipzig) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Currency | Mark (1914-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Single-sided Notgeld voucher printed in dark green and yellow-green on cream paper, with a geometric guilloche underprint covering the entire face. The denomination FÜNFHUNDERT MILLIONEN MARK is set in large bold letterpress type at the centre, flanked above by the title GUTSCHEIN and the validity legend in italic script. The series letter Q appears at upper left, with a red serial number at upper right. Issuing authority Der Rat der Stadt Leipzig is named below the date line, accompanied by a manuscript facsimile signature, and a forger's warning clause is printed in small type at the foot; the printer's imprint Poeschel & Trepte, Leipzig appears at the very bottom margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GUTSCHEIN Gültig im Bezirke der Stadt Leipzig FÜNFHUNDERT MILLIONEN MARK wird bei allen Kassen der Stadt Leipzig in Zahlung genommen Leipzig, den 1. Oktober 1923 Der Rat der Stadt Leipzig Wer diesen Gutschein nachmacht oder verfälscht oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte Gutscheine sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt wird mit Zuchthaus nicht unter zwei Jahren bestraft Poeschel & Trepte, Leipzig |
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| Comments |
By late 1923, German municipal authorities were printing emergency currency — Notgeld — in denominations that would have been unthinkable eighteen months earlier. Leipzig's 500-Million-Mark note is a product of the hyperinflationary peak, when the Reichsbank's own supply chain could not keep pace with denomination demand and cities were authorized to issue their own supplementary paper. Poeschel & Trepte, a Leipzig-based fine-art printing house better known for book production, was pressed into banknote work precisely because dedicated security printers were overwhelmed.
At issue date, 500 million marks bought roughly a loaf of bread — if the price hadn't moved since morning.