100 Mark Reichsbanknote

The Reichsdruckerei handled this series entirely in-house — an intentional consolidation of currency production under state control that the newly unified German empire pursued aggressively after 1871. Paul Thumann was primarily known as a genre and portrait painter, an unusual background for banknote design work, and his involvement reflects the Reichsbank's preference for fine-art credentials over commercial engraving tradition.

Pick 20 spans a 25-year issuance window, meaning notes from the 1883 and 1908 ends of the series can differ meaningfully in paper quality and stamp impressions — worth distinguishing when dating individual examples.