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500 Mark
| Issuer | Wartburgstadt Eisenach (City of Eisenach, Thuringia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Marks |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| 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 | Printed in dark brown on cream paper, the reverse carries a large square woodcut-style vignette occupying the upper half, showing a mounted knight on horseback thrusting a lance downward at a dragon, with a heraldic shield bearing a cross visible at upper left — an allusion to Saint George, the patron of Eisenach's Wartburg heritage. Below the vignette, the text 'NOTGELD DER' is set in bold letterpress above the large denomination numeral '500 M', with 'WARTBURGSTADT EISENACH' in two lines at foot, flanked by decorative diamond ornaments. The printer's imprint 'Hofbuchdruckerei Eisenach, H. Kahler' appears in small type at the very bottom, with the designer's monogram at lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | NOTGELD DER 500 M WARTBURGSTADT EISENACH Hofbuchdruckerei Eisenach, H. Kahler |
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| Comments |
Eisenach's 500 Mark notgeld from 1922 falls squarely in the inflationary surge that followed Germany's reparations obligations under the Treaty of Versailles. Municipal authorities across Thuringia were issuing emergency currency not because of local financial failure but because the Reichsbank simply could not supply enough small-denomination notes fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. Hofbuchdruckerei Eisenach — H. Kahler's printing house — was a local commercial operation, not a specialist banknote printer, which shows in the relatively modest production values common to civic notgeld of this period.
By late 1923, 500 Mark would be essentially worthless, redeemable for a fraction of a pfennig in the new Rentenmark scheme.