Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Marks
| Issuer | Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa (Polish State Loan Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in red on a dense guilloche underprint of scrollwork and foliate ornaments within a scalloped border. A crowned Polish eagle set in a shield occupies the upper centre. The series designation and serial number are printed in black at the upper left and right respectively. Two circular guilloche rosettes, each containing the white numeral 20, are positioned at the lower left and right. A central anti-counterfeiting warning text in Polish appears between the rosettes. |
| Reverse lettering | II Serja CR KTO PODRABIA LUB FAŁSZUJE BILETY POLSKIEJ KRAJOWEJ KASY POŻYCZKOWEJ ALBO PUSZCZA W OBIEG LUB USIŁUJE PUŚCIĆ W OBIEG PODROBIONE LUB FAŁSZOWANE BILETY, PODLEGA KARZE CIĘŻKIEGO WIĘZIENIA 20 20 |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa was not a Polish institution in origin — it was established in 1916 by the German occupation authorities as a vehicle to finance war expenditure and displace Russian ruble circulation in occupied Polish territory. When Poland regained independence in November 1918, the new state inherited the PKKP wholesale, continuing to issue its notes through 1919 and into 1920 simply because there was no alternative infrastructure yet in place.
The Pick 26 series ran to over twelve million pieces, reflecting the enormous demand pressure of a newly reconstituted state managing demobilization, border wars on three fronts, and rampant inflation simultaneously. The marka inflated catastrophically through this period — by 1923, the exchange rate against the US dollar had collapsed past 6,000,000 marks to the dollar, rendering notes like this one economically worthless before the złoty reform of 1924 extinguished the series entirely.