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1 Mark Independent West Army
| Issuer | Western Volunteer Army (Zapadnaya Dobrovolcheskaya Armiya) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ВРЕМЕННЫЙ РАЗМЕННЫЙ ЗНАК ОДНА МАРКА ЗАПАДНОЙ ДОБРОВОЛЬЧЕСКОЙ АРМИИ · МИТАВА 10 · ОКТ · 1919 Командующий Западной Добровольческой Армией Начальник Отдела Государственного Хозяйства при Армии |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in German on a light guilloche underprint within an ornate border frame. Large decorative numeral '1' vignettes occupy the left and right margins. The heading 'KASSENSCHEIN' appears at top centre, followed by the denomination 'EINE MARK' in bold gothic lettering. Below, an authorising legend states the note was issued by order of the command of the Volunteer West Army at Mitau, dated 10 October 1919, with a detailed redemption text in smaller print occupying the lower half. A warning against counterfeiting appears in a ruled box at the foot. |
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| Comments |
The Western Volunteer Army — nominally under German officer Pavel Bermondt-Avalov and operating across the Baltic in late 1919 — issued this currency while effectively functioning as a rogue force. The German high command had technically disbanded such units following the Armistice, but Bermondt-Avalov's men remained in the field, partly funded by German nationalist interests and partly self-sustaining through local requisition. These notes were the financial infrastructure of that arrangement.
Printed in Mitau, which the army briefly held before being driven out by Latvian and Estonian forces in November 1919, the issue had an extremely short operational life. Within weeks of printing, the army collapsed and the notes became worthless.