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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Heilbronn a. N. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Plain white ground enclosed within a typeset border of repeating triangular motifs, with a pale rose-pink underprint vignette of a spread-winged eagle at centre. Letterpress text in bold gives the issuer's name and the denomination 'Fünfhunderttausend Mark', with the redemption clause and place-date 'Heilbronn a. N., 15. Aug. 1923' set below. A red serial number appears at the left margin, and manuscript signatures of the Oberbürgermeister and Stadtpfleger are placed at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain cream-white ground within a typeset border of repeating triangular motifs matching the obverse. Bold letterpress text reading 'Notgeldschein der Stadtgemeinde Heilbronn' is set across the upper portion, while the large numeral '500 000' in guilloche-style figures occupies the lower half. The printer's imprint appears in small type at the lower right corner. |
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| Comments |
Heilbronn issued this note at the height of the hyperinflation summer of 1923, when municipal governments across Germany were forced into emergency currency production simply to meet payroll. The Stadtgemeinde — the city municipality itself, not a bank — became a de facto issuer out of necessity, a situation that would have been unthinkable eighteen months earlier.
Carl Reinbold was a local commercial printer, not a banknote specialist, which places this squarely in the Notgeld tradition of expedient local production. At 500,000 Mark, it was a significant denomination when printed; within weeks, it was effectively worthless as the Reichsbank's printing presses pushed inflation past any rational anchor.