500 000 Mark

Düren's 500,000 Mark note dates from the summer of 1923, when German municipal authorities were effectively forced into the printing business as the Reichsbank's own currency collapsed faster than it could be distributed. Cities, counties, and commercial firms issued their own Notgeld not as novelty items but as the only viable medium of exchange — wages had to be paid, bread had to be bought, and the official supply of notes was perpetually insufficient. Maschen, Nagel & Co. was a local printing firm, which kept production close and turnaround fast — a practical necessity when denominations were obsolete within days of issue.