Top Picks NewOrleans Rare Coin Auction31pt1D1
By Key Date Coins
Jul 8, 2023
148 Route 73 Suite 3-184 Voorhees, NJ 08043 USA, United States
The auction has ended

LOT 45:

1922 Germany 10,000 Mark Vampire Note P# 72 Grades vf+. Among the many bills issued during the hyperinflation ...


Start price:
$ 5
Estimated price :
$25 - $100
Buyer's Premium: 18%
Auction took place on Jul 8, 2023 at Key Date Coins
tags:

1922 Germany 10,000 Mark Vampire Note P# 72 Grades vf+. Among the many bills issued during the hyperinflation crisis in the post-WWI German Weimar Republic, the "Vampire Note" is a particular standout. It is known as the Vampire Note because when the note's engraver (identity unknown) adapted a portrait by famous German Renaissance painter Albrecht Durer for the note, he made an odd alteration where the neck of the figure looks like a Vampire when the bill is rotated 90 degrees. It takes some imagination to see, but was intentional and meant to represent the anti-French sentiment in WWI Germany -- France was considered to be "sucking the life out of" the country following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The Reichsbank noticed this alteration, but did not change it, printing several varieties of the bill with the design and giving credence to the popular anti-French sentiment. There are three varieties, Pick # 70 and 71 differing in the reverse design, and Pick # 72 being a smaller version of Pick # 71.