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1 000 000 Mark Reichsbanknote
| Issuer | Reichsbank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | 1923 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, consisting of plain white paper; faint show-through of the obverse letterpress text and guilloche underprint is visible in mirror image, consistent with the single-sided printing method employed throughout the German hyperinflation emergency issues of 1923. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
By August 1923, when this note entered circulation, German hyperinflation had already rendered smaller denominations functionally useless. The Reichsbank was printing on one side only to accelerate output — full two-sided production could not keep pace with the collapsing purchasing power. A million marks sounds extraordinary; within weeks of issue, it bought less than a loaf of bread.
The watermark — a simple repeat pattern pressed into the paper — was the sole security measure the Reichsbank bothered to maintain at this denomination, though counterfeiting was hardly a rational crime when the currency was destroying itself faster than any forger could operate.