5 000 000 Mark

Zwickau's municipal administration — like hundreds of German cities in 1923 — was forced to issue its own emergency currency as the Reichsbank's printing presses failed to keep pace with hyperinflation. This Fünf Millionen Mark note belongs to the Notgeld phase when denominations were climbing so fast that notes were often obsolete within days of issue. A five-million mark note that would have seemed grotesque in 1921 was routine pocket change by mid-1923.

The guilloche underprint — the same mechanically-generated lathe-work used on banknotes proper — signals that local printers were accessing equipment normally reserved for security documents, a practical response to rampant counterfeiting of municipal issues.