Hyperinflation Banknote Archive

A web-based visualization platform for historical hyperinflation banknotes, organized by country and period, featuring exchange rate charts, downloadable databases, and detailed historical context.

Live Demo

Visit the live site: https://decouvreBitcoin.github.io/hyperinflation-bank-note

Features

• 19 Hyperinflation Periods from around the world
• 44 High-Quality Banknote Images with zoom capability
• Exchange Rate Charts showing currency collapse over time
• Historical Context for each period in Markdown format
• Download Options - Full collection or per-period ZIPs
• Responsive Design - Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile
• Dark Theme - Easy on the eyes

Periods Covered

Country	Period	Currency	Peak Inflation
Germany	1921-1923	Papiermark	29,500% monthly
Hungary	1945-1946	Pengő	41.9 quadrillion %
Zimbabwe	2007-2009	ZWD/ZWN/ZWR	79.6 billion %
Venezuela	2016-2021	Bolívar	1,000,000%+
Yugoslavia	1992-1994	Dinar	313 million %
Greece	1941-1944	Drachma	8.55 billion %
And 13 more...

Project Structure

hyperinflation-bank-note/
├── index.html              # Main landing page
├── css/
│   ├── style.css           # Global styles
│   └── detail.css          # Detail page styles
├── js/
│   ├── main.js             # Index page logic
│   └── detail.js           # Detail page logic
├── data/
│   ├── periods.json        # All periods metadata
│   └── exchange-rates/     # Chart data per period
├── content/
│   └── {period-id}/        # Markdown info per period
│       └── info.md
├── assets/
│   └── bills/
│       ├── originals/      # Full resolution images
│       ├── web/            # Optimized (1200px)
│       └── thumbnails/     # Small previews (300px)
├── pages/
│   └── {period-id}.html    # Detail pages
└── scripts/
    ├── process-images.py   # Image optimization
    └── generate-pages.js   # Page generation

Development

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x with Pillow (pip install Pillow)
• Node.js 18+ (optional, for npm scripts)

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/decouvreBitcoin/hyperinflation-bank-note.git
   cd hyperinflation-bank-note

2. Extract banknote images (if not already done):

   unzip "Hyperinflation Bills.zip" -d assets/bills/originals/

3. Process images (create thumbnails and web versions):

   python scripts/process-images.py

4. Generate detail pages:

   node scripts/generate-pages.js

5. Serve locally:

   npx serve .
   # or use any local server like Live Server in VS Code

Adding New Periods

1. Add period data to data/periods.json
2. Add bill images to assets/bills/originals/
3. Run python scripts/process-images.py
4. Run node scripts/generate-pages.js
5. Edit content/{period-id}/info.md with historical context
6. (Optional) Add exchange rate data to data/exchange-rates/{period-id}.json

See docs/DATA_GUIDE.md for detailed instructions and templates.

Quick reference: docs/CHEATSHEET.md

Documentation

Document	Description
ROADMAP.md	Project roadmap and future plans
docs/DATA_GUIDE.md	Complete guide for managing data
docs/CHEATSHEET.md	Quick command reference

Data Sources

• Banknote images: Personal collection (educational use)
• Exchange rate data: Various historical sources
• Historical information: Academic sources and archives

Tech Stack

• Pure HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (no frameworks)
• Chart.js for exchange rate visualization
• Marked.js for Markdown rendering
• Pillow (Python) for image processing

Future Plans (V2)

• React + TypeScript migration
• Timeline view of all hyperinflations
• Comparison charts between periods
• User contributions system
• Multi-language support

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• DecouvreBitcoin for the initial collection
• All the historians and economists who documented these events