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!
5 Mark
| Issuer | German Empire (Reichsschuldenverwaltung) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1874 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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) | Gustav Eilers |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed in blue and black with a red overprint, the obverse centres on an intaglio-engraved Coat of Arms of the German Empire set within an ornate frame with dense guilloche underprint work filling the field. Two classically rendered putti bearing a floral garland occupy the lower portion of the central vignette, while the upper register carries the title inscription REICHS-KASSEN-SCHEIN and the authorising law date. The lower field is occupied by an extensive anti-counterfeiting warning text in period Gothic typeface. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | REICHS- KASSENSCHEIN FÜNF MARK FUENF MARK Fünf Mark 5 ausgefertigt (Translation: Imperial Treasury Note. Five Mark. Five Mark. Five Mark. 5. Executed.) |
| 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 |
Pick 1 is the opening entry in the German federal paper money sequence, issued by the Reichsschuldenverwaltung — the Reich Debt Administration — rather than a central bank, since no unified German central bank yet existed. The Reichsbank would not be established until 1876. These notes were essentially short-term treasury obligations dressed as circulating currency, a stopgap instrument for a newly unified empire still assembling its financial architecture.
Gustav Eilers designed and engraved the plate himself, an unusual consolidation of roles. The Reichsdruckerei had only recently been reorganized as a state printing house following unification in 1871, and this series was among its earliest prestige commissions.