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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadt Baden-Baden (City of Baden-Baden) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 000 Mark (500 000) |
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| Obverse description | Cream paper ground printed in dark blue letterpress, with a circular purple municipal seal affixed to the upper left bearing the city arms of Baden-Baden. The denomination is set in bold blackletter type at centre, flanked above by the issuing authority text and below by the date '7. August 1923', with a red serial number carrying the prefix 'BB' at upper right. Two manuscript signatures appear below — one for the Oberbürgermeister and one for the Stadtkassedirektor — above the numeral value '500 000 Mk.' and a small-type redemption clause at lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gutschein der Stadt Baden=Baden über Fünfhunderttausend Mk. Baden-Baden, 7. August 1923. Der Oberbürgermeister: Der Stadtkassedirektor: 500 000 Mk. Dieser Gutschein wird von allen städtischen Kassen an Zahlungsstatt angenommen und bei Beendigung der Knappheit an Zahlungsmitteln eingelöst. |
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| Comments |
Baden-Baden's half-million Mark note belongs to the dense thicket of German municipal Notgeld issued during the hyperinflationary spiral of 1923, when the Reichsmark was collapsing fast enough that local authorities had no practical choice but to print their own emergency denominations. By the time notes like this reached circulation, the figure printed on them was already losing purchasing power within hours of issue.
Stadt Baden-Baden had the administrative standing to issue such instruments under the emergency provisions that effectively decentralized currency production across hundreds of German municipalities that year. The 500,000 Mark denomination, enormous by any prior standard, was already mid-range by August 1923.