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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Köln (City of Cologne) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in brown and green tones on a cream paper ground, with a fine guilloche border of scalloped waves framing the entire note. To the left, a detailed vignette of Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) rises from an oval guilloche underprint, rendered in brown intaglio-style line engraving. The denomination 'Fünfhunderttausend Mark' is set in large blackletter (Fraktur) script across the right half, beneath the issuing authority legend 'Stadt Köln / Gutschein über' in the upper right. A small-text redemption clause in Fraktur script, the issue date 'Köln, 1. August 1923', a red circular official seal, and the Oberbürgermeister's manuscript signature appear in the lower portion; the series letter 'SERIE F' is overprinted in red at upper left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Köln 500000 |
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| Comments |
Cologne's municipal administration was among the more prolific issuers of Notgeld during the hyperinflation peak of 1923, producing notes through M. Dumont Schauberg — the city's own major publishing house, not a specialist banknote printer. That choice of printer was purely logistical: by mid-1923, the Reichsdruckerei was hopelessly backlogged, and municipalities scrambled for any press capable of turning out denominations fast enough to keep pace with daily price changes.
Half a million marks sounds extraordinary; by the time this note reached circulation, it barely covered a streetcar fare. Notes of this denomination were often spent within hours of issue.