20 000 000 Mark

Kiel's municipal authority, like hundreds of German cities and towns, was forced into emergency currency production as Reichsbank denominations became obsolete almost as soon as they were printed. By August–September 1923, the inflationary spiral had accelerated to the point where a 20-million Mark note represented a day's wages at best — and far less within weeks of issue. This is Notgeld in its most desperate phase, not the collectible commemorative variety of 1920–21.

City-printed issues from this period were typically lithographed locally under considerable time pressure, and Kiel's examples are no exception to the general rule of rough production quality. The paper itself often shows rapid deterioration from heavy short-term handling — these notes moved fast and were discarded faster.