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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Neuss (City of Neuss) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Stadt Neuß Fünfhunderttausend Mark Die Stadt Neuß zahlt dem Vorzeiger bei ihren sämtlichen Kassen 500 000 Mark. Der Zeitpunkt der Einlösung wird öffentlich bekannt gegeben. Neuß, den 1. August 1923. Der Oberbürgermeister: Fünfhunderttausend 500000 Fünfhunderttausend |
| Reverse description | Green and black letterpress reverse centred on a vignette of the historic Obertor (upper gate) of Neuss, a massive medieval stone gate tower with three conical turrets and an arched passageway, rendered in fine stipple engraving against a pale rose underprint. The Gothic blackletter inscription 'Stadt' appears above the vignette and 'Neuß' below. The denomination is split across two bold dark oval cartouches flanking the central vignette, reading '500' to the left and '000' to the right. Decorative side panels carry geometric and floral guilloche ornaments with interlaced triangular and hexagonal motifs. The printer's imprint 'L. Schwann · Düsseldorf' is present in the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Neuss issued this 500,000 Mark note during the summer of 1923, when municipal and regional authorities across Germany were legally empowered to print their own emergency currency — Notgeld — to compensate for the Reich's catastrophic inability to keep usable denominations in circulation. By mid-1923, inflation was accelerating so fast that a note of this face value could lose most of its purchasing power within days of issue.
L. Schwann was a well-established Düsseldorf printing firm with a commercial rather than security-printing background. That distinction matters: these notes were produced efficiently, not securely.