The Occupation Coins & Currency.

[S.ChrisKelly]

Coins

Issued in two denominations only, in zinc, by all mints within Germany, 1940 - 1941.

 

Reichskreditkassen Coins:

 

The Reichskreditkassen were the institutions being responsible for providing currencies for the territories that were occupied by Germany 1940 -1944,  such as Belgium  France, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia (the previous three known as "Ostland") & Poland (including the Generalgouvernment) and circulated alongside the coinage of these occupied areas.

 

However, members of the Wehrmacht and other occupying forces generally used the original currencies of these occupied territories which is why the Reichskreditkassen coins did not significantly circulate and were rather unpopular.

 

Sources:

https://oldgermancoins.com/reichskreditkassen_coins/

 

Images:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:5_Reichskreditkassen_1940_B.jpg

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nazi_Coins_10_Reichskreditkassen-638x326.jpg

 

For Further Reading:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Dallin

☆German Rule in Russia, 1941–1945: A Study of Occupation Policies (St. Martin's Press, 1957). Republished by Westview Press in 1981.

Currency

Issued in six denominations, and circulated in the previously mentioned German - occupied areas, 1940 - 1944.

 

Translation

 

Obverse:

Issued by decree of the regulation of the National Credit Union

Main Administration of the National Credit Union

 

Reverse:

Counterfeiting will be punished with imprisonment

 

Notes:

The obverse portrait on the 20 Reichsmark note is a work by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528),  Baumeister (Architect) Hieronymus von Augsburg, completed in 1506.

 

Sources:

https://oldgermancoins.com/reichskreditkassen_coins/

 

Images:

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/index.php?p=1&ru=3581&ct=banknote

 

 

 

 

Currency unique to Ukraine, known as Reichkomissariat Ukraine under Generalplan Ost.  Printed in Berlin for the Central Note Bank in Rowno, Ukraine, and issued 10 March 1942.  They contain German, Russian and Ukrainian, and are in eight denominations (the 2 Karbovanets was not issued for circulation).

 

Images:

https://www.ma-shops.com/aurich/item.php?id=16153&curr=USD

 

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ukraine_section-banknotes-1.html#c_ukraine3553

 

Further Reading:

☆German Rule in Russia, 1941–1945: A Study of Occupation Policies (St. Martin's Press, 1957). Republished by Westview Press in 1981.

Addenda & Corrections:

The Ukrainian notes contain only German and Ukrainian.

These notes circulated in Ukraine, 1942 - 1944, when, presumably, replaced with Soviet Russian rubles.

The Karbovanetz was a denomination previously used in Ukraine, 1917 - 1922, prior to its loss to the Russians in the Civil War and subsequent annexation into the U.S.S.R.

 

For further research and reading:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichskommissariat_Ukraine

[S.ChrisKelly]

Furthermore:

Any assistance in identifying the signature at the bottom of the front of the Ukrainian banknotes, and any information on the Zentralnotenbank in Rovno (1942 - 1944) is requested and appreciated...

[RRA227]

Great banknotes.  Rich A. in Pa.

[mikie]

This is a very good thread. There is lots of interesting things here I did not know about. 

 

A few years ago I posted about some WWII Japanese occupation notes from the other side of the world but can no longer find it. 

 

Thanks! 

 

Mikie 

[S.ChrisKelly]

Further information on the Ukrainian banknotes...

 

On the obverse, the first signature on the right is that of Dr. Eugen Einsiedel, director of economic and government departments of the German Reichsbank.  He was chief of the Zentralnotenbank when it was created on 5 March 1942.

 

Sources:

 

http://dspace.ut.ee/bitstream/handle/10062/36249/est_a_5144_1942_jg_22_3_4_ocr.pdf

[See pages 41 - 45, "Die Zentralnotenbank Ukraine".  This source is in the German language.]

 

https://digital.slub-dresden.de/data/kitodo/Brsfded_39946221X-19400217/Brsfded_39946221X-19400217_tif/jpegs/Brsfded_39946221X-19400217.pdf

[See page 732, "Die Gesetz über Die Deutsche Reichsbank".  This source is in the German language.]

[S.ChrisKelly]

Additional thoughts:

 

German military personnel were paid on schedule every ten days, even "in the field" as the Amis say, or "on operations" as the Tommies say.

 

Like other military personnel, Axis or Allied, most took their pay "on account" (i.e., deposited to a bank account in their home countries, or sent back home to friends and family).  Any pay drawn in cash was likely a small sum, and incidental.

 

The "occupation currency" was paid out, upon request of the recipient, as desired.  It was used to pay foreign volunteers, foreign conscripts, military and civilian, and in many instances, for transactions in the occupied areas. It was intended for use outside Germany, and so was it used.  A means of exchange was provided so those in posession of it could exchange it for regular reichsmarks when in Germany.

 

Strange but true...  In France, 1940 - 1944, as many as three currencies circulated concurrently - regular French francs, German occupation reichsmarks, and in rare instances, regular German reichsmarks.  The occupation currency was the primary fiat currency of Reichskomissariat Ostland (Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania).  In places like Poland, zloty and both regular and occupation reichsmark circulated concurrently, as did (Belgian) francs and both regular and occupation reichsmark in Belgium.  It was of greater use to draw local currency for use in the occupied areas, and the occupation currency was generally unpopular and undesirable, especially in countries like France.

 

Replacing a currency is a means to control a nation's economy financially.  In many instances, especially on the Eastern Front, the military situation was very fluid and even volatile, so total currency replacement was not completed.

 

Source (image):

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-soldiers-of-the-german-wehrmacht-receive-their-pay-in-berlin-spandau-94214423.html

 

[S.ChrisKelly]

A strange but interesting addendum...  the story in "Further Reading" sheds some light on these notes:

 

Further reading:

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/the-boy-used-by-the-nazis-to-conceal-truth-of-holocaust-2Y1VWexOxiH4nJ01mhkuXa