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Bernhard Forgeries
Catterns £10 £20 £50 & Title Page
Peppiatt £5
Peppiatt £10
Peppiatt £20
Peppiatt £50 & £100
Branch Banknotes & Devil's Workshop
Operation Bernhard / Andrew

The tables on the following pages constitutes all logged prefixes of forged, Operation Bernhard,  White Bank of England Five, Ten, Twenty, Fifty and (One hundred) pound banknotes. Dated between:  20th March 1930 & 16th September 1938, with one odd date 24th December 1926.

This is an ongoing research project, prefix/serials are added when reported.

Mahon (branch only 1926), Catterns (not £5's) and Peppiatt signatures were utilised.  Anomalies exist, some banknotes are known to have the wrong signature / date. 

Example:  £50 prefix 42N signed by Peppiatt dated 20 March 1930. Peppiatt did not take office until 1934.

Branch banknotes are known from:  Leeds  -  Manchester  -  Liverpool  -  Birmingham  -  Bristol

Operation Bernhard Banknotes - or Bernhards as they are commonly referred to were produced by approximately 150 'volunteers', who were, in fact, Polish and Jewish prisoners in Block 19 of  Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The Nazis produced vast quantities of counterfeit English white Banknotes, overseen by Staatssckreiner (Chief of Police of  the General Government) Friederich Walter Bernhard Krueger.  The Nazis wanted to undermine the British Economy by air dropping the banknotes over Britain, but, they abandoned this idea in favour of the more subtle approach of buying goods and materials in neutral countries, also by paying their spies and agents - the most notable spy being 'Cicero'.  In 1945 the Nazis tried to hide the evidence of Operation Bernhard in the Enns River, the Traun River and Lake Toplitzsee, the latter is from where some of the banknotes in today's collections were recovered.

The approximate value of the White Five pound forgeries alone was  £1,337,325

£5 Catterns does not exist as a Bernhard. 

ANNULE, FORGED, FALSIFICATION & FAUX  seen on some notes. 

Byatts book  'Promises To Pay' states the Peppiatt  £500  was forged. 

Email   pam@britishnotes.co.uk   or  Phone 0208 641 3224  if you have information

Introduction to Tables

The first two numbers of the serials are shown in the tables as they repeat themselves on the same dated
banknote and form a good aid to identifying the forgeries.  This practice was for economy of time, when

working on the metal plates.

 

All the dates in the tables also exist as genuine banknotes

                       

  Example                                           

                                         

The table columns are:-           

                            Banknote Prefix :-                                       K  104    

                            Banknote Date  (as on note):-                      19  March  1932

                            The first two digits of the serial :-         67  (67622  examples & scans underlined in tables)

Prefix         Date                                      The first two digits of the serial                                                                                        
K 104 19 March 1932 67

 

   

Ongoing research project serials are added when reported any information appreciated

 

The first two digits of the serial have been logged many times, with four different digits.

IE:- Prefix K 120 17 March 1933   02 seen  (Examples:  02143  02149  02393  02394  02899  02911 etc)

 


Catterns  £10 Operation Bernhard Banknotes  B229

Prefix   Date The first two digits of the serial                                                         
175 L 19  May  1930 56
180 L 18  Aug  1930 37  38
     
K 102 19  Feb  1932 71  72  73  75
K 104 19  March 1932 67  70  71
     
K 112 18  Aug  1932 24  25  26  28  29  30  39  48
K 113 19  Aug  1932 00  01  02  03  04  05  07
     
K 120 17  March 1933  01  02  03
     
K 129 17  Nov  1933 46  51  52  68  69  73
K 131 # 18  Nov  1934 (18 Jan 1934) 87
K 131 18  Jan  1934 ?
K 132 19  Jan  1934 78  81  83

 

 #  =  Actual Prefix or Date on genuine banknote in brackets  

 

Prefixes claimed to have been printed in Stefano Poddi's article in IBNS Journal Vol 47, No 4 2008
K 102 to K 132     ( L 100 to L 107 = Peppiatt )   

  

     

 

Catterns  £20 Operation Bernhard Banknotes  B230 

 

Prefix Date The first two digits of the serial
43 M 20  Sep  1930 01  04  07  08  10  11  12  13  14  15  16   
    17  19  20  21  22  23  25  27  28  29
    30  32  33  34  35  36  38  56  63
44 M 20  Nov  1930 06  07  10  11  12  13  14  15  17  18  19
    20  22  23  24  25  26  31
    45  47  48  49  52  53  55  56  57  58  59
45 M 15  Dec  1931 29  30  31  33  35  38  40  43  45  47 
    62  70  79  86  87  88  93 
46 M 20  Aug  1932 14  15  16  17  21  24  25  26  27
    31  32  33  35  36  76  80  81  97
47 M    15  Aug  1933            16  22  23  30  38  45  47 55  57  58  59                 
    60  61  62  64  65  67  68  69
    70  71  72  75  80

 

 

Prefixes claimed to have been printed in Stefano Poddi's article in IBNS Journal Vol 47, No 4 2008
M 43 to M 47

 

        

 

Catterns  £50  Operation Bernhard Banknotes  B231

 

Prefix Date The first two digits of the serial
42 N 20  March 1930 42  45  48  49  52  58  59  63  77  80  81  84                         
43 N 20  May   1930 44
44 N 20  June 1930 15  38  40  41  42  43  46  49  51  52
45 N   not seen  
46 N   not seen  
47 N 20  May   1932 ?
48 N 20  June 1932 62  66  68  67  72  73  74  75  83
49 N   not seen  
50 N   15  June 1933        07  10  11  16  17  18  19  20  23  24  25  27                  
    30  34  37  38  40  43  50*  54  58  63? 72  82

 

Prefixes claimed to have been printed in Stefano Poddi's article in IBNS Journal Vol 47, No 4 2008
N 42 to N 50

 * 50/N 54478     Error also seen misplaced Prefix/Serials  50/N + 44/N on same note 

Contributors:-  On Branch Notes Page

 

 How to identify a Bernhard?

 

   

                                                       Genuine

                                                                

 

   

                                                      Forgery 

 

 

 The detail on the forgery is poor under magnification, especially in the eyes.  The engraving is delicate

 on the genuine note and thicker and less detailed on the forgery, robe folds, to right of Spear, hair, etc

 

  

                                    

   The hook to the bottom right of the medallion has no engraved line going in on the forgery.

 

 

           

    Britannia is wearing a 'round' white earring on the genuine note.  

 

 

             

   The black circles around the TEN on a genuine note should all be circular. As can be seen in the forgery
   above, the circles are malformed, the circles in the corners are halves.  Especially the bottom circle

   between the T & E, and the bottom right indent of the N.

   We highly recommend you view the true story about the creation of these notes in the award winning film.
   The Counterfeiters    directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky.

 

 

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