Catalog
20 Mark Reichsbanknote
| Issuer | Reichsbank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1906-1914 |
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| Printer | Reichsdruckerei, Berlin, Germany |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Reichsbanknote. Zwanzig Mark zahlt die Reichsbankhauptkasse in Berlin ohne Legitimationsprüfung dem Einlieferer dieser Banknote. Berlin, den 21. April 1910. Reichsbankdirektorium Wer Banknoten nachmacht oder verfälscht, oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird mit Zuchthaus nicht unter zwei Jahren bestraft. (Translation: Imperial bank note. Twenty Marks. the Reichsbankhauptkasse in Berlin will pay the vendor of this banknote without any legitimation check. Berlin, 21 April 1910. Reichsbank Directorate Anyone who counterfeits or forges banknotes, or procures counterfeit or forged banknotes and puts them into circulation, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two years.) |
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| Protection description | "20" numeral within an ornate wreath |
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| Comments |
The Reichsbank's 20 Mark denomination occupied an awkward middle ground in daily commerce — large enough to matter, small enough to circulate heavily. Notes from this series absorbed years of real-world handling, and surviving examples that predate the First World War often show the wear to prove it. The cotton substrate held up better than wood-pulp alternatives of the period, but repeated folding along the same crease lines is a known characteristic of this type.
Reichsdruckerei held a near-monopoly on German state printing by this point, a deliberate policy consolidation dating to the 1870s unification. The watermark security on this series was considered adequate until wartime economic pressure made counterfeiting incentives far outweigh the technical barrier it posed.