Catalog
5 Francs / Franken = 4 Mark
| Issuer | État du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg / Großherzoglich Luxemburgischer Staat |
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| Year | 1914 |
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| Printer | Giesecke & Devrient |
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| Obverse description | French-language side of this bilingual emergency issue, printed on cream paper with an intricate guilloche underprint in green and brown tones. The central text reads 'Bon de Caisse au porteur' with the denomination '5 Cinq Francs' flanked by numeral '5' on both sides, and below it 'soit Quatre Mark', all beneath the heading 'État du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg'. A red oval official stamp appears at lower left, with two manuscript signature lines below the titles 'Le Ministre d'État, Président du Gouvernement' and 'Le Délégué du Gouvernement', and a serial number in red at right; a warning legend against counterfeiting runs along the bottom margin. |
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| Reverse lettering | Großherzoglich Luxemburgischer Staat Kassenschein auf den Inhaber Gesetz vom 28. November 1914 5 Fünf Franken 5 gleich Vier Mark Die General-Staatskasse, Die Kontrolle, Wer Kassenscheine nachmacht oder verfälscht, wird mit Zwangsarbeit von 15 bis 20 Jahren bestraft. GIESECKE & DEVRIENT |
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| Comments |
This note emerged from one of the more awkward monetary arrangements in early twentieth-century Europe. Luxembourg was simultaneously part of the German Customs Union and tied to the Latin Monetary Union through its franc-based currency — hence the dual denomination, 5 Francs equaling exactly 4 Mark, printed on a single face to satisfy both obligations at once.
Giesecke & Devrient's Leipzig plant produced the note just as German forces occupied the Grand Duchy in August 1914. Whether any pre-occupation stock reached circulation before the military administration imposed its own financial controls is not firmly established.