Catalog
20 Marks
| Issuer | Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa (Polish State Loan Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Printer | S. Manitius Press, Łódź, Poland |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | MAREK POLSKICH Rzesza Niemiecka przyjmuje odpowiedzialność za spłatę Biletów Kasy Pożyczkowej w Markach Niemieckich po cenie nominalnej. Zarząd jenerał-gubernatorstwa warszawskiego Warszawa, dn. 9go grudnia 1916 r. Kto podrabia lub fałszuje bilety krajowej Kasy Pożyczkowej, albo puszcza w obieg lub usiłuje puścić w obieg podrobione lub fałszowane bilety, podlega karze ciężkiego więzienia. (Translation: 20 POLISH MARKS The German Empire assumes responsibility for the repayment of Loan Bank notes in German Marks at face value. Board of the Warsaw General-Governorate Warsaw, 9th December 1916. Those who counterfeit or forge notes of the State Loan Bank, or circulate or attempt to circulate counterfeit or forged notes, are punishable by severe imprisonment.) |
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| Reverse lettering | BILET KRAJOWEJ POLSKIEJ KASY POŻYCZKOWEJ DWADZIEŚCIA MAREK POLSKICH (Translation: Note of the Polish State Loan Bank Twenty Polish Marks) |
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| Comments |
The Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa was not a Polish institution in any meaningful sovereign sense — it was created in 1916 by the German occupation authorities to manage currency in the territory carved out as the Kingdom of Poland, a German-administered puppet state. The marka it issued was tied to the German Mark at par, effectively subordinating the local economy to Berlin's wartime financial needs.
Printing at the S. Manitius press in Łódź rather than in Germany was a practical concession to logistics, not a gesture toward local autonomy. Łódź had been a major industrial center before the war stripped it of both workers and raw materials.