500 000 Mark

Traunstein's Bezirks-Sparkassa was among hundreds of German savings institutions forced to issue emergency currency — Notgeld — as Reichsbank denominations fell catastrophically behind the pace of hyperinflation in 1923. By the time 500,000 Mark notes were being printed, that sum represented perhaps a day's wages at best. The district printer Ed. Leopoldseder handled the job locally, which was the point: speed mattered far more than security features.

The note belongs to the inflationary peak preceding the Rentenmark stabilization of November 1923, after which virtually all municipal Notgeld was called in and destroyed.