The Weimar Hyperinflation

Here is a banknote gifted to me by my German grandfather. It is a Reichsbanknote, 1922 Third Series, from the German Weimar Republic. It was printed all in offset with some distributed fibers along one side of the note. The portrait is based on a painting by Barthel Bruyn of Burgomaster Arnold von Brauweiler, Mayor of Cologne, 1535.

The obligation of the note only says that the Reichsbank in Berlin will pay the bearer 50,000 Marks in exchange for the note.

It would usually be surprising to find such a high-denomination printed in the twentieth century with so few security features, including no intaglio. But, this was a note printed during the hyperinflation experienced in interwar Germany. By the end of 1924, the Reichsbank would be issuing 100 trillion Mark notes. So, one can imagine that quantity, not quality is what counted in banknote production.

For those unfamiliar with the Weimar hyperinflation, it came about because of the reparations imposed on Germany after World War I. These were very heavy, and Germany did not have an economy capable of producing and transferring all the money needed to pay the debts in foreign exchange. So, the Reichsbank printed notes to pay the debts. This led to runaway inflation that reached 29,500% a month. Recovery only began when Weimar's debts were renegotiated.

Unfortunately, this was not the only case of hyperinflation in the twentieth century. Probably, the most recent was in Zimbabwe in the 2000s.

Here's just another episode in banknote history, which involves far more than just ink and paper.