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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtrat Crimmitschau (City Council of Crimmitschau) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 000 Mark (500 000) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Purple-violet Gutschein printed in letterpress with an ornate guilloche border and decorative corner vignettes enclosing the text field. The denomination "Fünfhunderttausend Mark" is set in large Gothic blackletter at centre, flanked above by the validity clause specifying acceptance within the district of the City of Crimmitschau for the duration published in the official gazette, and below by a payment instruction naming the municipal cashiers and the Reichsbank branch. The date "Crimmitschau, am 18. August 1923" and a manuscript signature on behalf of Der Stadtrat appear in the lower portion, with the numeric value "500,000 Mark" repeated in the bottom panel. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Olive-green reverse printed with a geometric guilloche border of interlocking circular motifs over a wavy-line underprint. A central oval vignette presents an engraved view of a prominent Crimmitschau civic building, likely the town hall, rendered in fine line engraving. The denomination "Fünfhunderttausend Mark" in Gothic blackletter runs above the vignette, the numeric value "500 000" is repeated in the lower left and right corners, and an anti-counterfeiting warning legend occupies the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Crimmitschau, a textile manufacturing town in Saxony, issued emergency currency during the hyperinflation peak of 1923 — a period when municipal and regional authorities across Germany were printing their own Notgeld simply to meet payroll and keep local commerce moving. The Reichsbank could not supply denominated currency fast enough to keep pace with the collapse, so bodies like the Stadtrat stepped in.
At 500,000 Mark, this note dates to the middle phase of the crisis, before denominations climbed into the billions. By November 1923, 500,000 Mark would not have bought a postage stamp.