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500 000 Mark Landesbank der Rheinprovinz
| Issuer | Landesbank der Rheinprovinz |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black on a pale ground with a vertical olive-yellow underprint band through the centre. The denomination "Fünfhunderttausend Mark" is set in large Gothic blackletter type across the top, with "Landesbank der Rheinprovinz" in the same script along the lower margin. A central cartouche framed by elaborate acanthus scroll ornaments carries the bearer text and issue details, flanked on each side by the numeral "500 000" in bold relief; at the foot of the cartouche the circular seal "Siegel der Rheinprovinz" bears a Prussian eagle, accompanied by manuscript signatures for the General-Direktion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black with the same vertical olive-yellow underprint band and carries a large central oval vignette of the Rheinprovinz coat of arms, supported by two armoured figures holding flagstaffs surmounted by an imperial eagle, set within a finely engraved guilloche border. The title "Landesbank" and "Rheinprovinz" appear in bold Gothic blackletter to the left and right of the vignette respectively. Below, two large overlapping ovals each contain the numeral "500 000", separated by the circular "Siegel der Rheinprovinz" seal with a Prussian eagle at centre; the entire composition is framed by dense acanthus and rope-twist ornamental borders. |
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| Comments |
The Landesbank der Rheinprovinz was one of dozens of regional and municipal institutions that issued emergency inflation currency during the hyperinflation crisis of 1923 — but its position in the occupied Rhineland gave its notes an added political dimension. French and Belgian troops had occupied the Ruhr in January 1923, and the German government's policy of passive resistance, funded by a printing press running at full speed, accelerated the currency's collapse to the point where 500,000 Mark barely covered a tram fare by mid-year.
Printed locally in Düsseldorf, within the occupation zone itself.