Banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

s were issued in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

in late 1914 after Australian forces took over

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

. These extremely rare notes are denominated in

New Guinean mark The Mark ( German plural: Mark, English plural: marks) was the currency of the colony of German New Guinea between 1884 and 1911. It was equal to the German Mark, which was also legal tender in the colony. Initially, only German currency circula ...

s, as opposed to German New Guinean marks. The New Guinean mark was created as a way of driving the German New Guinean mark out of circulation, and to function as a temporary currency until the Australian pound was introduced. The notes are inscribed 'TREASURY NOTE', '(x) MARKS', 'Payable in coin at the Treasury, Rabaul. Dated at Rabaul this ...day of...191...', 'For and on behalf of the Treasury'. The denomination is also expressed in figures in two boxes at the top of the notes. The notes are extremely rare. They are listed in the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money quite wrongly under 'German New Guinea'. Only 29 notes are known to have survived, although reprints of all have been made. . The 100 mark note may be unique. A primitive 20 Mark note printed with

boot polish A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

is also reputed to have existed which was used for paying the wages of the German Voluntary Brigade.

Catalogue

*P1a. 5 Marks. 14 October 1914. *P1b. 5 Marks. 1 January 1915.

Pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

cancelled. *P2a. 10 Marks. 14 October 1914. *P2b. 10 Marks. 1 January 1915. Pen cancelled. *P3a. 20 Marks. 1914. *P3b. 20 Marks. 1 January 1915. Pen cancelled. *P4a. 50 Marks. 16 October 1914. *P4b. 50 Marks. 1 January 1915. Pen cancelled. *P5. 100 Marks. 5 November 1914.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banknotes Of New Guinea Economy of Papua New Guinea Banknotes of Oceania