Allied Military currency for Germany printed on lightweight, rectangular, cream-colored paper. The face has a rectangular, black ink border with an ornate web design with scrollwork in the corners and German text in the top center. Within the central rectangle, there is a light blue floral underprint with wavy blue and black lines printed over it. The denomination is printed in the center with an elaborate blue border and an ornate web design, incorporating blue within the scrollwork elements in all four corners of the border. German text is printed in blue ink to the left and right of center. The serial number is printed in black ink below the German text on the left and above the German text on the right. The back has a geometric-patterned rectangle printed with burnt orange ink. German text on a scroll is printed at the top center. In the center, there is a circular medallion with an elaborate, central uppercase letter M surrounded by an ornate scrollwork border and leafy branches. A plain, uppercase letter M is printed at center left and center right on cross-shaped medallions bearing an ornate web design. The note is slightly worn and stained around the edges.
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The military currency was donated to the United Sates Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Joel Forman.
overall: Height: 2.625 inches (6.668 cm) | Width: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm)
Allied Military currency (AMC), valued at 50 mark, printed in the Soviet Union and distributed for use in Germany by the Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories (AMGOT), from September 1944 to June 1948. During and immediately after World War II, the Allied powers worked cooperatively to issue special currency for Allied troops in countries they had liberated or newly occupied. The goal of the joint currency issues was to protect local economies from inflation or weakening of their currency, and to present a united front to countries they were occupying and those they were still fighting. The currency was produced for Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and Japan. All of the production was carried out in secret, and the printing effort for each country was given its own code name. The printing of the Allied Military (AM) mark for Germany was known as Operation Wild Dog. The United States did the majority of the printing for the notes used in each country, but the Soviet Union insisted on being allowed to print a portion of the notes for use in Germany. With the ability to print their own notes, the Soviet Union was able to ignore the wishes of the other allies, and issue large numbers of AM marks to Soviet troops. This indiscriminate printing led to inflation issues in occupied Germany. On June 20, 1948, the American, British, and French occupation zones of Germany converted to a new currency, and the Soviets followed suit a few days later.
Allied Military currency for Germany, 50 mark note