5 Mark

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.