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500 000 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Zwenkau |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 153 x 98 mm |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream paper with a decorative foliate border frame enclosing letterpress text. The denomination "Mk. 500 000.-" appears in bold at the top, followed by the payment order text. At centre-bottom, a circular municipal seal bears a standing figure with sheaves, flanked by two manuscript signatures and the issuer inscription at right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Energie Aktiengesellschaft Leipzig |
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| Comments |
Zwenkau was a small Saxon town of perhaps 5,000 inhabitants when it issued this note at the height of the 1923 hyperinflation. Municipal authorities across Germany were printing their own emergency currency — Notgeld — because the Reichsbank simply could not produce denominations fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. By the time 500,000 Mark notes were being issued by entities as modest as a small-town Stadtgemeinde, the denomination itself was already losing relevance within weeks of printing.
Local Notgeld from minor Saxon municipalities at this denomination tier survives in uneven quantities — many issues saw genuine hard circulation before stabilization rendered them worthless in November 1923.