Catalog
500 Marks
| Issuer | Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
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| Currency | Mark (1917-1924) |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette at right presents a portrait of Queen Jadwiga in an oval frame with ornate guilloche border work, rendered in green intaglio. To the left, the denomination title DIĘCSET MAREK POLSKICH appears in large letterpress text beneath the issuer's name, with a block of Polish legal tender text below, dated Warszawa, dnia 23 Sierpnia 1919 roku. Intricate foliate and scroll underprint patterns fill the margins, with the numeral 500 positioned at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | POLSKA KRAJOWA KASA POŻYCZKOWA 500 |
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| Comments |
The Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa — the Polish State Loan Bank — was a creature of German wartime occupation, established in 1916 to manage currency in the occupied Polish territories. It outlasted its creators: when Poland re-emerged as an independent state in November 1918, the institution continued issuing notes under the new government while a proper national bank was still being organized. This 500 Marek note from 1919 belongs to that transitional period, when the PKKP was essentially bridging the monetary gap before the Bank Polski could take over.
Rampant inflation during 1919–1922 would eventually render these high denominations nearly worthless. The 500 Marek, substantial at issue, became negligible within a few years.