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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Herne (City of Herne) |
|---|---|
| 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 |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The left half of the note is occupied by a bold expressionist woodcut-style vignette, signed with the monogram 'THO', depicting an industrial urban scene with factory buildings, chimneys, and a stylized wheel in the foreground. The right half carries the denomination in large Gothic (Fraktur) script over a fine guilloche underprint in blue, with the issuing authority inscription above and the date 'Herne, den 1. August 1923' below. A red serial number appears at lower centre, flanked by two manuscript signatures and an embossed dry seal to the right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The left half presents a bold expressionist vignette of a colliery headframe and industrial plant with billowing steam or smoke rendered in a woodcut style. The right half repeats the denomination in Gothic Fraktur script at the top, below which the municipal coat of arms of Herne is centrally placed, followed by two paragraphs of redemption and validity text in sanserif capitals, all set against a fine guilloche underprint. The printer's imprint 'FR. WILH. RUHFUS DORTMUND' appears at the bottom margin. |
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| Comments |
Herne was a mid-sized Ruhr industrial city, and like hundreds of German municipalities in 1923, it was forced to issue its own emergency currency — Notgeld — when the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation. By the time 500,000 Mark denominations were necessary for routine transactions, the figure had already become almost meaningless; notes of this face value were being superseded within weeks.
Wilh. Ruhfus was a Dortmund commercial printer that handled Notgeld contracts for several Westphalian municipalities during this period. The dry seal was the city's primary authentication measure, applied after printing.