5 000 000 Mark

Plauen's municipal emergency currency from 1923 sits squarely within the Weimar hyperinflation peak, when local authorities across Germany were legally empowered — and practically forced — to issue their own Notgeld to keep commerce functioning as Reichsbank notes became worthless faster than they could be printed. By the time denominations reached seven figures, the five-million mark barely covered a loaf of bread.

The watermarked paper is notable for a local issue of this type — many Saxony municipal notes at this denomination level dispensed with security features entirely, treating the notes as effectively disposable given their near-instant obsolescence.