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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Kreisausschuss des Kreises Heinsberg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 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 | Printed in dark burgundy on aged beige paper, the note is enclosed within a decorative letterpress border of repeating floral and geometric ornaments. The denomination "Fünfhunderttausend Mark" is set in large blackletter (Fraktur) script at centre, with the numeral "500 000" repeated at upper left and right flanking the word "Gutschein". A three-line text paragraph specifies the accepting institutions, followed by the place and date of issue, the issuing authority, a handwritten manuscript signature, and a circular official ink stamp bearing an eagle and the legend "Kreisausschuss des Kreises Heinsberg"; the serial number appears at lower left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, showing only the plain aged beige paper with show-through bleed from the obverse letterpress printing visible in mirror image. |
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| Comments |
Heinsberg's Kreisausschuss — the district administrative committee — issued this 500,000 Mark note during the hyperinflation peak of 1923, when municipal and district authorities across Germany were legally permitted to print their own emergency currency, Notgeld, to compensate for the Reichsbank's inability to supply denominations fast enough for daily commerce. By mid-1923, half a million marks would barely cover a loaf of bread, and the denomination itself became obsolete within weeks of issue.
Heinsberg district sits in the western Rhineland, and its proximity to the occupied Ruhr zone during the passive resistance campaign meant supply disruptions were acute and locally issued paper filled genuine transactional gaps — not merely a collector exercise.