Drachmas, Doubloons and Dollars: The History of Money

Paper Currency of the World

German Interwar Emergency Money

The economic disaster that struck Germany after World War I can be clearly seen in the paper money issued in the 1920s. Inflation skyrocketed and paper money devalued rapidly. In this period, two types of inflationary notes were printed: Reichsbank notes issued by the central bank in Berlin, and notgeld ("emergency money") issued by city banks, towns and other entities. Inflation also caused the overprinting of new, astronomically high denominations (worth almost nothing) on lower-value notes.

Reichsbank 1000 mark note (December 15, 1922) with the bust of a bearded man overprinted as 1,000,000,000 marks (September 1923).

Reichsbank 1,000,000 marks (February 20, 1923) from Cologne, with Gothic-style typeface and design.

100,000,000 mark notgeld (September 10, 1923) from Cologne, with Gothic-style typeface and design.

50,000 mark notgeld (July 3, 1923) from Moenchen-Gladbach, showing Hermes, the ancient god of commerce, and industrial chimneys in an Art-Deco style.

50 pfennig notgeld issued by the famous steel factory of Krupp.

5 mark notgeld from Frankfurt-am-Main.

2 mark notgeld illustrating a popular German nursery rhyme about a local doctor.