Forged British Bank Note – Operation Bernhard

This Ten Pound Forged British Bank Note was part of Operation Bernhard, which was run by Nazi Germany to forge British banknotes during the Second World War.

The initial plan was conceived was to drop the bills over Britain to bring about a collapse of the British economy.

The aim of the operation was later changed to forging money to finance German intelligence operations. Estimates vary of the number and value of notes printed, from £130 million up to £300 million.

The counterfeit money was laundered in exchange for cash and used to pay the foreign agents.

The operation successfully duplicated the rag paper used by the British, produced near-identical engraving blocks, and deduced the algorithm used to create the alpha-numeric serial code on each note.

Most of the Forged British Bank Notes were destroyed at the end of the war, but enough went into general circulation that the Bank of England issued a new design after the war.

Forged British Bank Note from Operation Bernhard

• Title:              Forged British Bank Note from Operation Bernhard
• Year:              1940 -1945
• Material:        Paper
• Museum:       International Spy Museum

Operation Bernhard – Nazi Forgery

A Tour of the International Spy Museum

• Scaramanga’s Golden Gun
• Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, S-Site Badge
• Manhattan Project, Service Certificate
• Forged British Bank Note from Operation Bernhard
• Enigma Cipher Machine
• British Special Forces Bobbins
• Sleeve Dagger with Sheath
• British Special Forces Lapel Knife
• Kiss of Death, Lipstick Pistol
• Glove Pistol

Operation Bernhard – Nazi Germany & Counterfeit Money

A Tour of Washington, D.C. Museums

• National Gallery of Art
• National Museum of American History
• National Air and Space Museum
• National Museum of African American History and Culture
• National Museum of Natural History
• National Portrait Gallery
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• The Phillips Collection
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
• International Spy Museum
• National Museum of Women in the Arts
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Nazi’s Secret Plan to Destroy British Economy

Tour of Military and War Museums and Memorials

• Imperial War Museum, London
• Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York
• Australian War Memorial
• Darwin Military Museum, Australia
• Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne, Australia
• Changi Museum, Singapore
• War Museum of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Churchill War Rooms, London
• Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, New Zealand
• Household Cavalry Museum, London
• National Army Museum, London
• MacArthur Museum Brisbane

The Nazi Printing Plate That Almost Destroyed WWII Britain

Spy Museums

• International Spy Museum
• Spy Museum Berlin

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“It is because politics is more difficult than physics.”
– Einstein

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Photo Credit: 1JOM