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500 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion
| Issuer | Deutsche Reichsbahn, Direktionsbezirk Erfurt (Reichsbahndirektion Erfurt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Emergency banknote |
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| Obverse description | Green guilloche underprint covers the entire face, with a repeated pale green letterpress legend '500 MILLIONEN MARK RBD ERFURT' running across the field in multiple horizontal bands. The issuer's title 'Deutsche Reichsbahn — Direktionsbezirk Erfurt' is set in bold Gothic blackletter at the top, followed by a serial number in red and the value denomination 'Fünfhundert Millionen Mark' in large blackletter script at centre. A circular official stamp bearing the Reichsbahn eagle and the inscription 'Reichsbahndirektion Erfurt' is applied at lower centre, accompanied by a manuscript signature to its right, the place and date 'Erfurt, den 22. September 1923' to the lower left, and the printer's imprint 'R. Stenger, Erfurt.' at the bottom left margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Deutsche Reichsbahn — Direktionsbezirk Erfurt 500 MILLIONEN MARK RBD ERFURT Gutschein über Fünfhundert Millionen Mark Dieser Gutschein wird von den Eisenbahnkassen in Zahlung genommen oder gegen andere Zahlungsmittel umgetauscht. Vom 1. November 1923 ab kann dieser Gutschein zur Einlösung aufgerufen werden. Erfurt, den 22. September 1923 Reichsbahndirektion R. Stenger, Erfurt. |
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| Comments |
This is Eisenbahngeld — railway emergency money — issued by the Erfurt directorate of the Deutsche Reichsbahn during the hyperinflationary collapse of 1923, when the central government could no longer supply enough currency for basic wage payments. Regional railway administrations across Germany became de facto issuers of their own notgeld, each printing whatever denominations the pace of inflation demanded. By the time a 500-million Mark note was necessary for payroll, the denomination itself was obsolete within weeks.
R. Stenger was a local Erfurt printer, not a security printing house. The notes show it.