500 Marka

By 1923, the Estonian marka was already a currency on borrowed time. The mark had been adopted in 1919 as a provisional unit pegged loosely to the German mark, but postwar inflation had badly eroded its purchasing power, and the government was actively preparing the transition to the kroon — a reform that would eventually arrive in 1928 at a rate of 100 marka to 1 kroon. A 500 marka note, substantial on paper, represented considerably less than it appeared by the time these were circulating.

Printed domestically by Eesti Riiklik Trükikoda — the Estonian State Printing House in Tallinn — rather than contracted abroad, which was unusual for a small nation still building its institutions barely four years after independence. The choice reflected both a point of national pride and a practical effort to reduce dependence on foreign printers during a period of fiscal instability.