50 000 000 Mark Bezirk Sonthofen-Immenstadt

Bezirk Sonthofen-Immenstadt was one of hundreds of German regional authorities that printed their own emergency currency during the hyperinflation of 1923, when the Reichsbank could not supply denominations fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. By the time 50-million-mark notes were necessary, a loaf of bread in provincial Bavaria could cost more than the entire pre-war German national debt in nominal terms. Local printers like Waltenberger in Sonthofen found themselves producing what amounted to fiscal kindling — currency with a useful life measured in days before a new, larger denomination was required.