Catalog
500 Kroner Substitution note
| Issuer | Danmarks Nationalbank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944-1962 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NATIONALBANKENS SEDLER INDLØSES MED GULD EFTER GÆLDENDE LOV DANMARKS NATIONALBANK (Translation: Notes from the Nationalbank can be exchanged with gold according to recent Law. Denmark Nationalbank) |
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| Signature(s) | 1944 - Svendsen & Matthiessen 1944 - Svendsen & Vinther 1944 - Svendsen & Teilmann 1944 - Svendsen & Rohleder 1948 / left - Halberg 1948 / left - Riim 1962 - Riim & Hansen 1962 - Riim & Hübner |
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| Comments |
Denmark was occupied by Germany from April 1940, and by 1944 the Nationalbank faced a specific problem: the existing 500 Kroner notes carried design elements considered vulnerable to wartime counterfeiting operations. The substitution series — "erstatningssedler" in Danish — was printed as a deliberate stopgap, using simplified production to replace higher-risk notes in circulation without requiring an entirely new series design.
Gerhard Heilmann is better known as an ornithologist than a banknote designer, his 1926 book on the origin of birds remaining a serious scientific contribution decades after publication. His work for the Nationalbank is the less-discussed half of an unusual career.
The eight recorded signature combinations across eighteen years reflect routine administrative turnover, but the 1944 cluster of four variants within a single year points to deliberate rapid deployment.