1 000 000 Mark

Gummersbach's municipal savings bank issued this million-mark note in 1923 as Notgeld — emergency currency produced locally when the Reichsbank could no longer supply denominations fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation. By the time notes of this face value were entering circulation, a million marks was already insufficient for daily purchases; the inflationary spiral was accelerating faster than any printer could respond.

The Oberbergische Buchdruckerei was a regional commercial printer pressed into currency production under extraordinary circumstances. The embossed seal was the municipality's primary authentication method — a practical choice when sophisticated intaglio work was neither available nor affordable locally.