5 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion

The Reichsbahndirektion Altona was one of several regional railway directorates authorized to issue emergency currency — Notgeld — during the hyperinflationary collapse of 1923. These were not banking institutions but administrative arms of the state railway system, pressed into the money-printing role simply because the Reichsbank could not supply denominations fast enough to meet payroll and daily transactions. By the time five-million-mark notes were necessary, the denomination itself would be functionally worthless within days of printing.

The watermark security feature on a note of this type is notable — most Notgeld issues at the height of hyperinflation dispensed with such measures entirely, given the pointlessness of securing currency with a shelf life measured in hours.