Four Bank of England counterfeit notes forged by Jewish concentration camp prisoners, under Operation Bernhard, based in Sachsenhausen.
AUCTION 72 |
Thursday, March 16th,
2017 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Holy Land Maps & Fine Art
Lot 119
(HOLOCAUST).
Four Bank of England counterfeit notes forged by Jewish concentration camp prisoners, under Operation Bernhard, based in Sachsenhausen.
(Sachsenhausen, Germany): Union of Polish Patriots in the USSR 1943
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
PRICE REALIZED $5,250
During World War II, the Nazis devised a secret plan of economic warfare - Operation Bernhard - to destabilize the British economy by flooding it with forged bank-notes. In 1943 the Germans introduced into circulation counterfeit British £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes. A talented team of Jewish concentration camp prisoners were forced to create, what became the largest counterfeiting operation in history. The notes are considered among the most perfect counterfeits ever produced.
<<* WITH:>> Brian Burke. Nazi Counterfeiting of British £ Currency During World War II. (San Bernardino, 1987).