10 000 Mark

Suhl's municipal authority — the Magistrat — issued this 10,000 Mark note during the hyperinflationary collapse of 1923, when German cities, counties, and private firms were printing emergency currency (Notgeld) simply to meet payroll. The Reichsbank could not supply denominations fast enough as prices doubled weekly, so local issuers filled the gap by legal necessity rather than monetary ambition.

Otto Richters & Co. of Erfurt handled a substantial volume of Thüringian municipal Notgeld during this period. The watermarked paper is worth noting — many comparable local issues dispensed with security features entirely as costs and urgency mounted.