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500 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion
| Issuer | Reichsbahndirektion Altona |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | REICHSBAHNDIREKTION ALTONA Gutschein über Mark FÜNFHUNDERT MILLIONEN Dieser Gutschein wird bis zum 30.November 1923 von allen Eisenbahnkasse des Reichsbahndirektionsbezirks in Zahlung genommen oder in Überweisungswege vergütet Altona,1.Oktober 1923 REICHSBAHNDIREKTION ALTONA |
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| Protection description | Wave-bundle watermark (Wellenbündel, Keller #133) |
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| Comments |
The Reichsbahndirektion Altona was one of several regional German railway directorates authorized to issue emergency currency — Notgeld — during the hyperinflationary collapse of 1923, when the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute legal tender fast enough to meet daily wage demands. Railway directorates across Germany became de facto quasi-monetary authorities for their own workforces out of operational necessity, not by any coherent policy design.
The watermarked paper on a half-billion Mark note issued by a Hamburg-area rail bureaucracy is the detail worth pausing on — at this denomination, the security feature was functionally meaningless. By late 1923, notes of this face value would be obsolete within days of printing.