Catalog
5 Mark Emergency Issue - WWI
| Issuer | Internationale Bank in Luxemburg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1900-1918) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Dark-blue letterpress text printed over a light-green guilloche underprint, framed by an ornate foliate border. The issuer's name appears in large display type at the head of the note, followed by the promise-to-pay legend and the denomination in bold gothic script. Three manuscript signature lines in the lower portion are attributed to the Grand Ducal Commissioner, the Bank Directorate, and the Control Officer respectively, with an anti-counterfeiting warning at lower right and the place and date of issue centered below the main text. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain black letterpress print on unprinted paper, enclosed within a dotted geometric border with the numeral 5 repeated in each corner. To the left of centre, a circular governmental seal bears the Arms of Luxembourg surmounted by a crown, with a legend running around the circumference. To the right, the denomination is set within a diamond-dotted rectangular frame, with the issuer's name printed above and below. |
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| Comments |
Internationale Bank in Luxemburg occupied an unusual position in August 1914: a private commercial bank in a nominally neutral Grand Duchy, suddenly overrun by German forces and pressed into issuing emergency currency to prevent a total collapse of local commerce. The German military administration needed small-denomination notes in circulation immediately, and the existing stock of Reichsmarks was insufficient to cover daily transactions.
Pick 8 is one of several denominations the bank produced under these constrained wartime conditions. Whether the notes were printed locally or sourced through German military channels remains imperfectly documented — the bank's own records from this period are fragmentary at best.