Cheque for 100,000,000 Polish marks - a template

In the fall of 1923, the Polish mark (mkp) issued by the Polish National Loan Bank (PKKP) was hyperinflated and ceased to be a real measure of value. This is evidenced by the price of the dollar, for which, at the height of inflation in 1924, one had to pay 10 million 250 thousand mkp. Cases of transactions involving bags of banknotes were noted by the press of the time. At that time the highest denominations of banknotes in the history of Poland were put into circulation - 5 and 10 million mkp, dated 20 November 1923. The planned issue of 50 million mkp did not come to fruition.

Moreover, on the basis of the authorization of the Minister of Treasury, PKKP introduced money orders worth 50 and 100 million mkp. These were intended to offset the difficulties of handling large sums of money. The money orders were bearer-backed and payable at PKKP branches, as indicated by the clause: “POLSKA KRAJOWA KASA POŻYCZKOWA will pay the bearer of this order in each of its branches, by 31 March 1924, the amount of one hundred million Polish marks”. They were also accepted at the Polish Government Bank in Gdańsk. Some of them were postponed, as indicated by the imprint on them: “VALID Till 30 JUNE 1924”.

The money orders were printed at the State Graphic Works in Warsaw using the typographic technique. Their obverse is decorated with a guilloche pattern background - green on 50 million and pink on 100 million mkp, on which inscriptions are printed in black and a decorative guilloche with the issuer's name. At the bottom, on the left, there is an embossed dry stamp with the image of the national emblem. The reverse is unprinted.

Money orders for mkp 50 million and mkp 100 million, compared to other mkp denominations, are not commonly found in collections, and auction houses offer only their specimens. Our copy is such an example. Specimens were marked with a diagonal red overprint “SPECIMEN” between two lines and zero or running numbering. In addition, money orders with running numbering included an inscription at the top and bottom saying: “Without value”.

At the end of November 1923, a first-class train ticket from Warsaw to Krakow cost 4,636,800, to Lviv 9,717,600, and to Gdańsk 5,495,400 mkp.

Tomasz Markiewicz