500 Deutsche Mark

The 500 Mark note of this series was never a note the general public handled much. By the early 1990s, the denomination served primarily as a store of value — hoarded in German households and exported in substantial quantities to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states following reunification, where hard Deutsche Mark currency was aggressively sought after unification destabilized regional monetary confidence.

Two signature combinations exist: the Schlesinger/Tietmeyer pairing from August 1991, and the Tietmeyer/Gaddum from October 1993, reflecting Helmut Schlesinger's retirement from the Bundesbank presidency. The earlier signature variant is noticeably scarcer in genuinely circulated grade.