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5 Mark Reichskassenschein
| Issuer | Reichsschuldenverwaltung (Reich Debt Administration) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1904 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 125 × 80 mm |
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| Obverse description | At left, an allegorical vignette of Germania accompanied by a young boy and a dove, rendered in a classical intaglio style. To the right, symbolic vignettes represent shipping, mechanical engineering, trade, and agriculture. The face value and issuing authority appear in letterpress text across the note, framed by fine guilloche ornamental borders. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Wer Reichskassenscheine nachmacht oder verfälscht oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird mit Zuchthaus nicht unter zwei Jahren bestraft. 5 MARK 5 REICHSSCHULDENVERWALTUNG (Translation: Anyone who counterfeits or falsifies Reich Treasury Notes or obtains counterfeit or forged ones and puts them into circulation shall be punished with imprisonment for no less than two years. Reich Debt Administration) |
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| Comments |
The Reichskassenschein series occupied an awkward institutional middle ground — these were not Reichsbank notes but direct obligations of the Reich treasury, meaning the state itself, not the central bank, stood behind them. The 5 Mark denomination circulated heavily among working-class transactions, and the corrugated hemp paper used from this issue onward was a deliberate anti-counterfeiting measure, producing a distinctive ribbed texture that was difficult to replicate outside the Reichsdruckerei's own production process.
Alexander Zick's involvement placed this note within a broader decorative reform in German official printing — he was primarily known as a painter and muralist, and his engagement with banknote design was part of a conscious move away from the dry engraving conventions of earlier imperial issues. Pick 8 superseded the 1899 type; the hemp substrate change is the clearest physical marker separating the two.