500 billion marks

In 1923, inflation-stricken Germany saw a sharp decline in the value of the mark and a rise in prices, first in the spring and a second time in the fall, as a result of printing money on a massive scale. This gave rise to the need to issue substitute cash with new denominations. In November 1923, the authorities of Szczecin deemed it necessary to issue more substitute cash. On 12 November, Szczecin was authorised to issue notes in the amount of 50,000 trillion marks – 1 trillion each, and on the next day, the city received authorisation for printing 89,000 trillion marks in notes of 500 billion each. The 500 billion note, which was approved on 5 November 1923, was printed on paper with watermarks in the form of octagons adjacent to each other. The printing was contracted to the Szczecin-based Hermann Saran printer, which previously printed postcards and maps. The graphic design, as well as the colour scheme of these notes, was sparse. On a pale green subprint with an image of Sedina on the left and the city's coat of arms on the right, the inscriptions were printed in a black, Schwabacher-like font. At the top, the inscription indicated the denomination of the note in words, along with an information in a smaller-size font that the holder of the note would receive the amount indicated above, as well as an information that the new note is valid for one more month from the date of its withdrawal (recall). At the bottom there is an annotation that the note is a substitute cash issued by the city of Szczecin. In addition to the signatures of the mayor and the city treasurer, the money has a serial number printed in navy blue colour and a denomination in digits. On the left, one can see a warning that copying and issuing forged notes is punishable. Szczecin's note is a typical example of substitute cash printed in the period of hyperinflation, when large amounts of money appeared on the money market in a short period of time. Due to the need for quick order processing, the notes were single-side printed, the design was sparse, and the colour scheme was rather simplified.

Mieszko Pawłowski