40 Mark Herzogliche Sparkasse

The Herzoglich Braunschweigische Sparkasse was not a central bank or a commercial institution empowered to issue currency under normal circumstances — it was a savings bank. The 40 Mark denomination is itself a signal: odd-value emergency notes like this one were typically calibrated to fill gaps left by hoarded or withdrawn Reichsbank coinage and smaller Reichskassenscheine, not to replicate standard denominations. By late 1918, German municipal and regional bodies were issuing Notgeld at a pace the central authorities had largely stopped trying to regulate.

The cardboard composition is worth noting practically — these were never designed for extended handling, and the material degrades unevenly.