Berchtesgaden's district administration issued this note during the most violent phase of the German hyperinflation — October 1923, when the Reichsbank could not print fast enough and hundreds of local authorities, businesses, and municipalities issued their own emergency currency (Notgeld) to keep commerce functioning at all. By the time a 10-billion-Mark denomination made sense, a single egg cost several billion.
The watermark is unusual for municipal Notgeld of this period; most district-level issuers skipped security features entirely as notes were expected to circulate for days, not weeks.
Berchtesgaden's district administration issued this note during the most violent phase of the German hyperinflation — October 1923, when the Reichsbank could not print fast enough and hundreds of local authorities, businesses, and municipalities issued their own emergency currency (Notgeld) to keep commerce functioning at all. By the time a 10-billion-Mark denomination made sense, a single egg cost several billion.
The watermark is unusual for municipal Notgeld of this period; most district-level issuers skipped security features entirely as notes were expected to circulate for days, not weeks.