20 Mark Bremer Bank-Verein

The Bremer Bank-Verein was a regional commercial bank operating out of Bremerhaven, and its 1918 note issue came at a moment when the German imperial banking system was straining under wartime financial pressure. Private bank note issuance had been progressively curtailed by Reichsbank policy throughout the war, making late-period emissions from regional institutions like this one both administratively unusual and short-lived in circulation.

The star punch cancellation is the detail worth noting: cancelled survivors indicate redemption or demonetization processing, and their preservation suggests deliberate archival retention rather than ordinary circulation wear.