[4] Counterfeit British Banknotes, Prepared by the Germans in "Operation Bernhard." Sachsenhausen Concentration ...

[4] Counterfeit British Banknotes, Prepared by the Germans in "Operation Bernhard." Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp WWII. Rare.

Counterfeit banknotes with the values 5, 10, 20 and 50 British pounds. Sachsenhausen, c. 1943.

Operation Bernhard - German plot during WWII in which they started a mass forgery of British currency in 1942 with the goal of shaking up and collapsing the British economy. 142 Jewish prisoners, expert bankers, painters and graphic artists, printers and counterfeiters, were forced to create the counterfeit banknotes to a level of forgery that was almost perfect. The task necessitated cracking the code the British used to determine the numbers on the banknotes, producing suitable paper, deciphering the watermark techniques and developing printing plates. Over the course of the operation close to nine million counterfeit banknotes were produced, with the values 5, 10, 20 and 50 pounds. The original plan to disperse the bills over the British Isle using the Nazi planes was not carried out. In its place, the Germans used them, as foreign currency, to finance raw materials and to pay agents. There is an estimation that close to the end of WWII, most of the banknotes were dumped into the bottom of Lake Toplitz in Austria. After the war, the Bank of England cancelled all banknotes over 5 pounds, and printed new paper banknotes, to restore confidence in the British currency.

Condition:

5 pound banknote - PMG Grade 35.

10 pound banknote - PMG Grade 25.

20 pound banknote - PMG Grade 40.

50 pound banknote - PMG Grade 35.

PMG certification of the authenticity of all the counterfeit banknotes.

A leaf detailing a number of signs to distinguish the real banknotes from the counterfeit ones is included.