Catalog
50 Reichsmark Reichskreditkassenschein
| Issuer | Hauptverwaltung der Reichskreditkassen (Main Administration of the Reich Credit Banks) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1939-1945 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 170 × 85 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in dark blue-grey intaglio over a brown and pale blue guilloche underprint, the reverse presents large ornate numeral 50 counters at left and right flanking a central vignette of Marienburg Castle (Malbork). The denomination "Fünfzig" appears in Gothic blackletter script across the top with "Reichsmark" in bold Gothic lettering below the central vignette, and an anti-counterfeiting warning legend running along the lower margin within fine floral guilloche borders. |
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| Protection description | The note is printed on watermarked paper |
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| Comments |
Reichskreditkassenscheine were not ordinary German currency. They were occupation scrip, issued specifically for use in territories under German military control — designed to extract local goods and labor without drawing on Reichsmark reserves held inside Germany itself. The 50 RM denomination was among the higher values in this series and would have circulated in occupied France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere depending on campaign chronology.
Allied authorities declared the notes void after liberation, leaving enormous quantities worthless almost overnight. Surviving examples frequently turn up with cancellation stamps, local bank markings, or hastily applied overprints from post-liberation administrations — each one a small forensic record of where the note ended up.