500 000 000 000 Mark

One of the more extreme denominations to emerge from the hyperinflation peak of late 1923, when municipal and local authorities across Germany were legally empowered — and practically forced — to issue their own emergency currency, or Notgeld, because the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to meet demand. Bad Reichenhall, a spa town in Upper Bavaria, issued this note through its city council rather than a commercial or banking institution, which was common among smaller municipalities.

The 64 × 13 mm strip format was a deliberate paper economy — at that denomination, the physical note was worth almost nothing before the ink dried.