Banknote 500 zloty 1940 so called LONDON FALSE -.
Series A , the numbering sequence characteristic of this type of forgery starting with the digits 13.... (12.... are also known).
Piece stamped - on the obverse : FALSCH-EMISSIONSBANK, Petrikau, FALSCH, as well as there are annotations regarding the classification of the forgery and the number assigned. On the reverse side : rectangular stamp of the bank's headquarters in Cracow with date 18.10.1944 and FALSCH seals.
This is a diversionary forgery made in England, commissioned by the government in exile, to support opposition activity in Poland during World War II. These banknotes were delivered to occupied Poland in the form of airdrops.Due to certain features with which this type of forgery differed from the original banknotes (a larger and darker watermark in the form of a Highlander's head, differences in guilloche elements around the 500 denomination), it was decided to "legalize" them "safely", in the form of "substitution" for the original banknotes, which were to go for destruction. This procedure took place at a branch of the Emission Bank in Piotrków Trybunalski (hence the Petrikau stamp - the German name for this locality). After it was discovered, the counterfeit banknotes were destroyed, but some were left behind, and then stamped, given information and characteristics that they were counterfeit banknotes, and in this form were sent to cash registers throughout the country, as a template, comparative material, for catching counterfeits from circulation.
A rare collector's value, exceptionally attractive and of great historical significance.
Literature : Miłczak 98b
