The only piece appearing in the PMG register and one of the rarest banknotes of the Free City of Danzig.
The second highest denomination of the transitional guilder currency introduced on October 22, 1923 by the Central Bank of Danzig. The 50 guilder denomination was put into circulation on December 15, 1923 and carried great purchasing power. It was in circulation for an unusually short period of time, as the entire interim issue was withdrawn and replaced as of April 30, 1924, less than five months later. This explains the high rarity of the entire issue, but especially of the highest denominations, which, due to their purchasing power, were meticulously exchanged for the final guilder issue already introduced by the Bank of Danzig.
Piece in PMG slab with PMG 30 grade. UNGÜLTIG stamp on obverse. More common for transitional issues is the stamp Ungültig! / Nicht zugelassen / im Zahlungs= / verkehr on the reverse, which was most likely made on banknotes that never made it to the rebound. Offered piece removed from circulation and stamped UNGÜLTIGinvalid during exchange .
Small tear in the right margin and an annotation on the obverse. Natural paper, relatively clean. Overall presentation good.
As a testament to its extreme rarity, only two pieces (053948, 013175) have been recorded so far at auction in Poland, and the banknote on offer is only the third known piece! Delving into the world listings, we reached the pattern listing, but no more pieces of circulation pieces could be identified.
A phenomenal item, typologically one of the two rarest WMG banknotes, which is missing from any known collection. An incredible opportunity to complete the collection with a currency whose next listing may not be repeated for a long time. An item that will represent the strength of the entire collection, which we are already looking forward to bidding on!
The Free City of Danzig was established in November 1920 under the agreements of the Treaty of Versailles. The issue of the currency system was left to the decisions of the city authorities. Initially, the German mark was maintained in the area. However, as a result of rampant inflation in Germany, it was decided to establish its own currency - the guilder, which was divided into 100 fenigs. It became legal tender in late 1923 and remained until 1939. The paper money issued in Danzig featured the city's iconography.
On November 20, 1923, changing the currency from the mark to the guilder set the exchange rate at 1 guilder = 750 billion marks. As the decision to change the currency was made on November 6, 1923, there was not enough time to prepare coins and banknotes. Initially, the Danzig banks established a temporary issuing institution, the Danzig Central Bank, which was to operate until March 31, 1924. It issued one-sided temporary paper money in denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 fenges and 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 guilders. The money was a means of payment until April 30, 1924. After that date, they were exchanged for Bank of Danzig (Bank von Danzig) money for six months. The first guilder bills of the new Danzig issuing institution appeared in circulation in mid-March 1924. They all have the same style. Their design included the great coat of arms of the city, elements of city architecture and sculptural detail. All the guilder banknotes were printed at the British securities printer Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd, New Malden, Surrey.
