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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Pößneck (Thuringia), City of |
|---|---|
| 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 | The reverse is printed on plain uncoated white paper and is otherwise blank, save for a blind embossed circular municipal seal of the Stadt Pößneck applied at the lower left, enclosing a heraldic vignette at its centre and a Gothic legend around its circumference. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Blind embossed circular municipal seal of the Stadt Pößneck applied to the reverse, bearing a heraldic device at centre and a Gothic circular legend. |
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| Comments |
One of thousands of Notgeld issues printed during the hyperinflationary spiral of 1923, this 500,000 Mark note from Pößneck reflects the administrative chaos of a period when German municipalities were legally authorized to issue their own emergency currency simply to meet payroll and basic commerce. By the time denominations reached the hundred-thousands, the Reichsmark was losing value faster than notes could be printed and distributed.
C. G. Vogel was a local printer — not a security printing house — pressed into producing circulating currency. The embossed seal was the primary authentication device, a low-tech solution that reveals exactly how thin the margin was between official currency and improvised paper.