500 000 Mark

Karlsruhe's municipal administration issued this 500,000 Mark note during the hyperinflationary summer of 1923, when German cities, counties, and private firms were legally authorized — and practically compelled — to print their own emergency currency (Notgeld) to fill the void left by the Reichsbank's inability to supply denominations fast enough for daily transactions. Half a million marks, a staggering figure by any prewar standard, was by mid-1923 roughly equivalent to a loaf of bread.

The dry seal impressed into the paper served as the primary authentication device — a practical choice when speed of issue mattered more than sophisticated security printing. Designer A. Kusche is credited on the note, an unusual acknowledgment for municipal emergency currency of this type.