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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Kiel (City of Kiel), Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 000 Marks (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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| Obverse description | Typeset notgeld note in brown and ochre, framed by a dark brown decorative border of guilloche work with diamond corner ornaments. The upper panel carries the issuing authority legend in bold capitals, while the central text field presents the redemption clause in italic script over the denomination "Fünfhunderttausend Mark" and the date "KIEL, DEN 15. AUGUST 1923"; a faint underprint of the Kiel city arms occupies the centre. A red serial number appears at lower left, with four manuscript signatures above their respective official titles at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in olive-ochre on plain paper, the reverse centres on an oval vignette enclosing the Kiel city coat of arms — a crowned lion rampant with crossed anchors and a starburst device — set within a surround of fine guilloche work. Symmetrical decorative cartouches flank the central vignette on both sides, with the issuer name "STADT KIEL" at the top and the denomination "500 000 MARK" within a banner at the foot. |
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| Comments |
Kiel's 500,000 Mark note was issued during the hyperinflationary spiral of 1923, when German municipal authorities — utterly lacking federal support — were legally permitted to print their own emergency money, known as Notgeld. By mid-1923, the Reichsmark was losing value faster than notes could physically be printed, forcing cities to source printers wherever capacity existed. That Kiel, a major North Sea port, contracted A. Meier in Rüdesheim am Rhein — a small Rhineland town better known for wine than currency production — reflects exactly how strained the printing infrastructure had become.
The 500,000 Mark denomination, astronomical by prewar standards, was itself rendered nearly worthless within weeks of issue.