10 000 000 Mark Reichsbanknote

This is one of several emergency high-denomination notes rushed into production during the hyperinflation crisis of 1923, when the Reichsbank was printing faster than the economy could collapse — which is saying something. By the time 10-million-mark notes entered circulation in late July 1923, the purchasing power of each had already eroded to near nothing within days of issue. The Reichsbank's own presses in Berlin were supplemented by dozens of private printers contracted by the state, though this particular type remained a Reichsbank-printed issue.

The watermark and security fibres are something of a grim joke in hindsight — anti-counterfeiting measures on a note that inflation was rendering worthless faster than forgers could operate.