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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Bünde (City of Bünde) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 000 Mark (500 000) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Typographically printed Notgeld voucher in olive-green on light paper, with a decorative letterpress border composed of scrollwork and guilloche ornaments enclosing circular cartouches at each corner bearing the inscription 'STADT BÜNDE i.WESTF.' The central field carries large Fraktur script text stating the issuer and denomination, with the numeral '500,000' set in bold display type flanked by 'Mark' on each side, and the written-out amount 'Fünfhunderttausend' in a scrolled ribbon below. Redemption clause, issue date, magistrate designation, and manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, with a serial letter and number at bottom left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gutschein der Stadt Bünde i. Westf. Mark 500,000 Mark Fünfhunderttausend Die Stadtkasse löst diesen Gutschein bis 1. Dezember 1923 ein. Bünde, den 15. August 1923 Der Magistrat (Translation: Voucher of the City of Bünde in Westphalia Mark 500,000 Mark Five Hundred Thousand The city treasury will redeem this voucher until December 1, 1923. Bünde, August 15, 1923 The Magistrate) |
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| Comments |
Bünde's half-million Mark note is a product of the Notgeld wave that swamped German municipal administrations in 1923, when the Reichsbank's hyperinflationary spiral forced hundreds of towns to print emergency money simply to meet payroll. W. Cordes was a local lithographic firm — not a security printer — which is entirely typical of the period and accounts for the relatively modest production values seen across the Westphalian municipal issues.
By the time denominations like this were circulating, the figure 500,000 was already becoming obsolete. Notes of this face value had a usable life measured in days before the next round of inflation erased their purchasing power.