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500 000 Marks
| Issuer | Stadt Saalfeld (Saale) - Stadtkasse |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Size | 128 × 91 mm |
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| Obverse description | The left field carries the title legend in Fraktur script at top, a central ornate cartouche with floral scroll borders enclosing the issuing authority text and denomination 'Fünfhunderttausend Mark' printed in large bold blue Gothic lettering, with the date 'Saalfeld (Saale), den 13. August 1923' below. The right panel is separated by a ruled border and contains a guilloche-patterned vignette with the town arms of Saalfeld in red-brown, surmounted by the serial number in blue at upper right and the large numeral '500000' in blue at lower right. Two manuscript signatures appear at the foot of the left panel under the designations 'Der Stadtgemeindevorsteher' and 'Der Gemeinderat'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Notgeld der Stadt Saalfeld (Saale) Gutschein. Die Stadtkasse zahlt dem Einlieferer dieses Gutscheins Fünfhunderttausend Mark Dieser Gutschein verliert seine Gültigkeit nach Aufruf in den Saalfelder Tageszeitungen. Saalfeld (Saale), den 13. August 1923. Der Stadtgemeindevorsteher: Der Gemeinderat: Wiedemannsche Druckerei A.-G., Saalfeld a. S. |
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| Comments |
Saalfeld issued this 500,000 Mark note at the peak of the German hyperinflation crisis, when municipal treasuries across the Reich were forced to print their own emergency currency — Notgeld — simply to meet daily wage payments. The Reichsbank could not supply denominations fast enough, and the gap fell to local authorities, savings banks, and even private firms to fill.
The Wiedemannsche Druckerei AG was a local commercial press, not a specialist security printer. That distinction matters less here than it might elsewhere — by mid-1923, the velocity of inflation rendered sophisticated anti-counterfeiting measures essentially pointless.