500 Mark

Dresden's municipal administration joined thousands of German towns and cities in issuing Notgeld during the hyperinflation spiral of 1922, when the Reichsbank's output simply could not keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. The 500 Mark denomination, negligible within a year of issue, reflects the precise moment in the inflation curve when municipal authorities were still trying to maintain functional change for everyday transactions.

Stengel & Co. were primarily a fine-art publishing and postcard printing house — their involvement here says more about the desperation of local procurement than about any deliberate choice of a quality currency printer.