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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtkasse der Stadt Wetzlar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in blue on cream paper, the note is framed by an elaborate letterpress border composed of repeating guilloche rosettes, foliate ornaments, and interlaced geometric cartouches at each corner. The central text field carries the issuing authority in Gothic script, the denomination FÜNFHUNDERTTAUSEND MARK in large bold letterpress type, and a redemption clause below; the date 'Wetzlar, den 10. August 1923' appears at lower left alongside the facsimile signature of the Bürgermeister. A serial number in the 'No' format is printed at the top centre, and the printer's imprint of Scharfes Druckereien, Wetzlar appears at the lower margin. |
|---|---|
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| 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. |
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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.