Catalog
500 Marka
| Issuer | Eesti Wabariigi (Republic of Estonia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | 1927 |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is a bond-style treasury note with an elaborate guilloche border framing the entire face. The central text area carries the bold heading EESTI WABARIIGI 5% WÕLAKOHUSTUS above a serial number, with the date Tähtpäev 1 jaanuari 1920 and denomination Mk. 500.— at the upper right. Below the heading, the body text is printed in Estonian, German, French, and English in parallel columns, confirming the note's value of Wiissada marka. Three manuscript signatures of government officials appear in the lower central section under the legend EESTI AJUTISE WALITSUSE NIMEL, with the numeral 500 repeated in each corner. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 500 |
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| Comments |
Estonia's postwar monetary system was built almost from scratch after independence in 1918, with the marka serving as the transitional currency before the kroon replaced it in 1928 at a rate of 100 marka to 1 kroon — a ratio that tells you everything about what inflation did to purchasing power in the intervening years. This 500 marka denomination was printed domestically at a time when Estonian printing infrastructure was still being established, which accounts for the relatively plain production compared to contemporaneous issues from Western European security printers.
The guilloche underprint is the primary counterfeit deterrent — there are no watermark or serial complexity features that would become standard in later Estonian issues.