2020-04-30 Thu

The Reichsmark was the currency in Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 (in West Germany) The Mark is an ancient Germanic weight measure, traditionally a half pound, later used for several coins; whereas Reich, that is the realm in English, comes from the official name for the German nation-state from stan 1817 to 1945. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig.

The first Reichsmark banknotes were introduced by the Reichsbank and state banks such as those of Bavaria, Saxony, and Baden. The first Reichsbank issue of 1924 came in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 1,000 Reichsmark.

The above note was issued in Germany when the Nazi Party was in power. Nazi Germany introduced this 5 Reichsmark note in 1942 to replace the silver 5 Reichsmark coins which were disappearing from circulation due to hoarding. The front of the note features a German young man, along with a small eagle and swastika.

The back depicts a woman with a sickle and a man with a wood plane, representing farming and industry. Between them is a vignette of the Brunswick Cathedral and the Brunswick Lion statue. The Lion was commissioned by Henry the Lion about 1166AD. The statue is the oldest, preserved large sculpture from the Middle Ages north of the Alps. The note measures 140x70mm and is brown. The left side features a watermark of the numeral "5".

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia