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Message:: [QUOTE="Clinker, post: 802956, member: 6229"]Ever see the highest denomination coin ever issued by Germany?  In 1914 Germany's post war reparations forced inflation to take a strong hold on its economy and by 1923 hyperinflation sent prices soaring on every imaginal product, commodity, appliance, beverage, plus such necessities as rent, transportation fees, petroleum products and food items. Prices increased hourly and the The Weimar Republic couldn't print currency fast enough to meet the demand. The great minds of the Republic reasoned, "it costs just as much to print a million Mark bill as it does to print a 1 Mark Bill." This kind of thinking spread to the minting of coinage. To help you grasp the immensity of the problem here are a few examples: In 1914 a cupro-nicklel 10 Pfennig coin would buy 1/2 dozen eggs or 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes. A loaf of bread cost 13 Pfennig. 100 Pfennig = 1 Mark. 1916 saw more inflation - 10 Pfennig was composed of iron and would only purchase 2 eggs or 1 1/2 pounds of potatoes. 1918 experienced even more inflation - 50 iron Pfennig or a silver 1/2 Mark coin could only buy 1 dozen eggs, 5 pounds of potatoes or 1/4 pound of meat. Bread uncreased to 22 Pfennig a loaf. 1921 Germany issued Aluminum 50 Pennig coins of which each had the purchasing power to buy 2 eggs, 1/8 pound of sugar or 1/4 pound of potatoes. Bread cost 1 Mark 35 Pennig per loaf. In January, 1923 the Weimark Republic of Germany minted an aluminum 500 Mark coin which could be used buy 1 dozen eggs, or a pound of flour. A loaf of bread cost 700 Mark. By the first of May, 1923 (4 months later) the price of bread rose to 1200 Mark. By July 25, 1923 (54 days later) bread cost 100,000 Mark a loaf and 10,000.000 Marks could only purchase 12 pounds of meat or 7 pounds of butter. 38 days later (September 2, 1923) it cost 10,000,000 Mark to obtain about 1/2 pound of meat, 4 eggs or 2 pounds potatoes. The price of bread rose to 2,000,000 Mark a loaf. Here's a photo of Germany's 1 Billion Mark Coin dated 1923 (photo courtesy of Ron Guth, C.P.A. Before you look at it, let me tell you what it could buy on October 29, 1923 (48 days later) - 3/4 lb. meat, 3 eggs, or 1/6 lb. of butter. Bread cost 670,000,000 Mark. Here's that photo: <a href="http://www.germancoins.com/world.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.germancoins.com/world.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.germancoins.com/world.htm</a>  Thought you should know. Was this interesting? Clinker  [/QUOTE]

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