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 Reichsmark Reichskreditkassenschein
| Issuer | Hauptverwaltung der Reichskreditkassen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940-1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Reichskreditkassenschein Mark (1940-1945) |
| 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 executed in dark brown and olive tones over an intricate guilloche background, with vertical side panels inscribed 'Reichsmark' in Gothic script. The numeral '20' appears in large underprint at left and right of centre, flanking a central intaglio vignette of the Brandenburg Gate viewed from the west, with the Quadriga visible above the attic. A single line of Gothic anti-counterfeiting text runs along the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | Zwanzig Reichsmark Geldfälschung wird mit Zuchthaus bestraft (Translation: Twenty Reichsmarks Counterfeiting is punishable with prison) |
| 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 |
Reichskreditkassenscheine were not Reichsmarks in the conventional sense — they were occupation scrip, issued by the Reichskreditkassen (Reich Credit Offices) specifically for use in German-occupied territories. This 20 RM note circulated wherever the Wehrmacht advanced: France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, the occupied East. Local populations were compelled to accept them, effectively obliging conquered economies to finance German military expenditure with paper backed by nothing but occupation authority.
The series ran from the Polish campaign through to 1945. Notes that survived did so largely outside Germany, which is why they turn up more frequently in Western European collections than domestic ones.