The value of money is predicated on trust. If people loss trust in the system that defines the value of money, money loses all its value. For example, is the U.S. government does not back its currency, the U.S, dollar is worthless. This is the reason why a default in the US debt commitment will be the end of dollar based civilization as we know it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic Trust in the currency backed by the Weimar Republic lost its value in the 1920s. This produced a hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. There was a three-year period of hyperinflation in Germany (the Weimar Republic) between June 1921 and January 1924.
