1 Shilling on 1 Shilling 3 Pence German Occupation

Guernsey's occupation currency presents one of the more unusual monetary improvisations of the Second World War. When German forces occupied the Channel Islands in June 1940, the existing currency stock was quickly supplemented and then exhausted, forcing the States of Guernsey to produce successive emergency issues. The 1 Shilling denomination was eventually overprinted directly onto unsued 1 Shilling 3 Pence notes, reducing the face value — a reversal of the far more common inflationary practice of stamping higher values onto existing stock.

Printing was handled locally under occupation conditions, with limited materials. The overprint itself is the distinguishing feature of this pick number, and forgeries are not unknown — the original substrate note adds a layer of complexity that makes authentication more involved than most wartime British issues.