25 000 000 000 Mark Overprint on 1 000 000 Mark

Stendal's 25-milliard Mark overprint belongs to the frantic final weeks of German hyperinflation in late 1923, when municipal authorities were empowered to issue notgeld simply to keep local commerce functioning. The underlying 1 000 000 Mark note was already obsolescent before the ink on this overprint dried — within days of such issues, denominations were being multiplied again by factors of ten or more.

The watermarked paper offers a minor forensic detail: it confirms the base stock predates the emergency overprinting, drawn from existing supply rather than purpose-printed for this denomination.