November 15, 1923

Rentenmark

Rentenmark notes first issued during Germany's hyperinflation

The first Rentenmark notes were dated 1 November. A printers' strike meant nobody could spend one until the fifteenth.

One new mark for a trillion old ones

The Deutsche Rentenbank first placed Rentenmark notes into circulation on 15 November 1923. The first series was dated 1 November, but production had been delayed by a strike at the state printing works.

One Rentenmark was valued at one trillion Papiermark, and one U.S. dollar was set equal to 4.20 Rentenmark. In mid-November a loaf of bread cost more than 230 billion Papiermark.

Papiermark notes did not disappear that day; they continued circulating while the limited supply of new notes was introduced.

Backed by farms and factories

Germany lacked sufficient gold reserves, so the Rentenbank's capital was secured through compulsory charges on agricultural, industrial, commercial and business property. The Rentenmark was not conventionally backed by redeemable gold.

Issue was capped at 3.2 billion Rentenmark. Hans Luther as Reich finance minister and Hjalmar Schacht as currency commissioner drove the stabilisation; Schacht was not yet Reichsbank president on 15 November.

Gustav Stresemann led the coalition government under which the reform occurred, but he did not personally abolish the Papiermark.

"Height of hyperinflation" is a label, not a measurement

15 November is solid as the date of the Rentenmark's first issue, not as a uniquely measurable single-day peak of inflation.

The familiar 4.2-trillion-Papiermark dollar quotation follows from the reform parities, and Bundesbank material dates general conversion at one trillion to one from 20 November — so pinning the fully stabilised dollar rate to 15 November alone conflates stages of the reform.

By the Bundesbank's calculation, inflation reduced 154 billion pre-inflation marks of German war debt to the purchasing equivalent of 15.4 pfennigs.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 6 sources not yet audited

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What the sources leave uncertain

The date 15 November is solid for the Rentenmark's first issue, not for a uniquely measurable single-day 'height' of inflation.
The familiar figure of 4.2 trillion Papiermark per dollar follows from the reform parities. Bundesbank material dates general conversion at that ratio from 20 November, so attaching the fully stabilized dollar rate exclusively to 15 November conflates stages of the reform.