10 000 000 Mark Handelskammer

Mönchengladbach's Chamber of Commerce issued this note during the summer of 1923, when Germany's hyperinflation was accelerating so rapidly that municipal and commercial bodies across the Rhineland were forced to produce their own emergency currency — Notgeld — simply to make payroll and keep local trade moving. By the time denominations reached eight figures, the Reichsmark had effectively ceased to function as a unit of account.

Schött A.G. in nearby Rheydt printed the note, which is unusually close to home for a chamber issue — many comparable Notgeld series from this region were farmed out to larger printing houses in Berlin or Leipzig. The watermarked paper gives it a solidity that belies its desperate origins.