50 Mark Darlehenskassenschein

The Darlehenskassenscheine — literally "loan treasury notes" — were authorized in August 1914 within days of Germany's declaration of war, explicitly to prevent gold from being drained out of the Reichsbank as mobilization costs spiked. The Darlehenskassen were quasi-independent state loan offices empowered to issue these notes against collateral, keeping Reichsbank reserves insulated while still flooding the economy with liquidity for war expenditure.

This 50 Mark denomination circulated alongside regular Reichsbank notes and was legal tender, though the two systems remained technically separate. The Reichsschuldenverwaltung — the Imperial Debt Administration — managed the administrative side. By 1918 the volume of Darlehenskassenscheine outstanding had grown to a scale that contributed materially to the inflation spiral that followed defeat.