Posted to London England on Nov 14, 1923 with a total of 40 Milliarden (40,000,000,000) Marks, paying the international letter rate for up to 20 grams set as of Nov 12. Franked with 20 x 2 Milliarden Marks stamps.

During the post-WWI years, the value of the German mark steadily deteriorated, largely as a result of reparations payments and the savage penalties imposed on German trade. Faced with budgetary deficits, governments followed a practice of issuing more money to meet expenses. The result was a runaway inflation more severe than that experienced in any other part of Europe. During 1922, the value of the Mark in US dollars fell from 162 marks to more than 7,000 marks (the pre-1914 relationship had been 4.2 marks to the dollar).

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After the First World War the value of German money dropped to a fantastically unbelievable low, and this is reflected in their stamps. The currency was the ‘pfennig’ and the mark. One hundred pfennigs made a mark.

The inflation was such that the German mark, which could be exchanged for U.S. dollars in 1914 at the rate of approximately 4 marks to the dollar had, by 1923 reached the point where the exchange rate was approaching 1 trillion marks to the dollar.

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