20 000 000 000 Mark

Jena's municipal administration issued this 20-billion-Mark note during the hyperinflationary peak of autumn 1923, when the Reichsbank simply could not supply denominations fast enough to meet payroll and retail demand. Local authorities across Germany were legally permitted — and in practice compelled — to print their own emergency currency, known as Notgeld, to keep commerce functioning.

Anton Kämpfe was a local Jena printing firm, not a specialist security printer. The official stamp served as the primary authentication device precisely because the press lacked the intaglio capability of purpose-built banknote printers.