1 000 000 000 000 Mark Pfullendorf

One trillion marks, issued by the municipal government of Pfullendorf, a small town in Baden with a population that would have struggled to justify its own printing operation under any normal monetary condition. This note exists because the Reichsbank could not supply denominations fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation in late 1923, forcing thousands of German municipalities, businesses, and private entities to issue their own emergency currency — Notgeld — to meet basic payroll and commerce.

By the time twelve-zero denominations were circulating at the local level, the inflation had already rendered them nearly obsolete within days of issue.