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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtkasse der Stadt Wetzlar |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in two colours — green and violet — the reverse presents a purely ornamental design without inscriptions. A large central guilloche vignette in violet with a fine engine-turned dot pattern bears the monogram 'W' at its centre, surrounded by symmetrical acanthus-leaf scrollwork in green; vertical side panels carry a repeating chain of diamond-shaped lozenges with the numeral '5', reinforcing the denomination through decorative rather than typographic means. |
| Reverse lettering | W |
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| Comments |
Wetzlar's municipal treasury issued this 500,000 Mark note at the peak of German hyperinflation, when local authorities across the Reich were legally empowered — and practically forced — to print their own emergency currency, known as Notgeld, to meet payroll and daily commerce. By mid-1923, the Reichsbank simply could not supply denominations fast enough to keep pace with the collapsing mark.
Scharfes Druckereien was a local Wetzlar printer, not a specialist security printer. Municipal Notgeld of this period often shows the limitations of civilian press work — thin ink coverage, variable registration — though the notes circulated so briefly before being overtaken by yet higher denominations that condition issues from heavy handling are rare.