Germany borrowed heavily to wage the war during WWI. After the war, it faced huge loan and reparation payments which far exceeded Germany's gross domestic product or GDP. When Germany could no longer made reparation payments in 1923, French and Belgium troops moved in to occupy the Ruhr, Germany's main industrial area. Without major source of income, the government took to printing money which resulted in hyperinflation. The highest denomination before 1923 was 50,000 Mark. By early 1924, it reached 100 Billion (American 100 Trillion) Mark. In the late-1923 currency reform, 1 Rentenmark was exchanged for 1,000 Milliard Mark (American 1 Trillion Mark).

Printing presses were constrained by costs as well. They did two things to cope - overprint existing currency or print bills on one side only. The latter often with poor graphics. Especially as denominations rapidly reached milliard (1000million = billion in USA terms) and billion (trillion in USA terms) levels