100 000 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion

The Reichsbahn-Direktion Dresden was one of several regional railway directorates authorized to issue emergency currency — Notgeld — during the hyperinflation crisis of 1923, when the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute legal tender fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. Railway administrations, municipal governments, and private firms all stepped in to fill the gap. By the time denominations reached the hundred-billion mark level, a note like this would have bought little more than a loaf of bread, possibly less depending on the week it circulated.

Regional railway-issued Notgeld from this period is frequently found with ink strike inconsistencies, a result of hasty overprinting on whatever paper stock was available locally.