25 000 000 000 Mark

Bielefeld's district authority — the Landkreis, distinct from the city itself — issued this 25-billion-mark note at the absolute apex of Weimar hyperinflation, when the Reichsbank's supply lines for emergency currency had completely broken down and local administrations across Germany were printing their own Notgeld simply to make payroll. By late 1923, a note of this denomination would have bought roughly a loaf of bread, perhaps less depending on the week.

G. Thomas was a local Bielefeld printer, not a specialist banknote firm. That matters: quality control was inconsistent across the district's emergency issues, and the DeNG 7/8 reference cluster for Bielefeld Landkreis documents several closely related issues that collectors frequently conflate.