500 Mark Reichsbanknote

The 500 Mark note of 1922 belongs to the early phase of Weimar hyperinflation, when the Reichsbank was still issuing notes in denominations that would seem laughably small within months. By late 1923, a single US dollar was worth over four trillion marks, and 500 Mark notes had long since ceased to have any practical use. Enormous print runs like this one were routine — the presses simply could not keep pace with the collapsing purchasing power.

The watermark security feature was retained through this period largely out of institutional habit; it offered no real protection against a crisis driven by monetary policy rather than forgery.