100000000 Reichsmark #192

Front

One hundred million mark (100,000,000 Mark) emergency currency note issued by the Reichsbankdirektorium during the catastrophic hyperinflation of 1923. The text reads 'Einhundert Millionen Mark' with authorization stating this note is legal tender with the authority of the Banking Act of 30 August 1924, and will be exchanged through the Reichsbank and provincial banks. The date Berlin, 22 August 1923 appears at bottom. This denomination represents the peak of the Weimar hyperinflation when prices doubled every few days and banknotes became effectively worthless.

Back

Blank reverse without printing, typical of many emergency hyperinflation notes issued during this period when speed of production superseded elaborate design. The plain back reflects the desperate economic conditions and the purely utilitarian nature of these notes.

History

This 100 million mark note belongs to the third and most extreme phase of Weimar hyperinflation in 1923, when the German economy collapsed following World War I reparations, occupation of the Ruhr, and monetary policies. By August 1923, currency denominations reached absurd levels with billion and trillion mark notes soon to follow. The hyperinflation was finally ended in November 1923 with the introduction of the Rentenmark at a conversion rate of 1 Rentenmark = 1 trillion Papiermark. These notes were demonetized in 1924 and became worthless, though they remain as historical artifacts of one of history's most dramatic economic disasters.