500 000 Mark

Krefeld's 500,000 Mark notgeld sits at an unusual juncture: the city issued emergency currency well into the hyperinflationary spiral that followed Germany's defeat, when municipal and commercial issuers were racing to print denominations that would have been unthinkable two years earlier. At 500,000 Mark, this note dates from the acute phase of 1923, not 1918 — the stated year warrants scrutiny, as Krefeld did issue earlier low-denomination notgeld from 1918, but six-figure values belong firmly to the later emergency.

The Rhineland's occupation by Allied forces after 1918 complicated local monetary circulation considerably, adding a political dimension to what was already a logistical crisis.