| 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, serials are added when reported.
Mahon (branch only), Catterns (not £5's) and Peppiatt signatures were utilised. Anomolies 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 from Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol are known.
Operation Bernhard Banknotes - or Bernhards as they are commonly reffered 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 Banknotes, overseen by Staatssckreiner (Chief of Police of the General Government) Friederich Walter Barnhard 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 many 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.
FALSIFICATION & FAUX seen on some notes.
Byatts book "Promises To Pay" states Peppiatt £500 forged.
E Mail pamwestbritnotes@aol.com 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 exist as genuine notes.) |
Example 
The table columns are:-
Note Prefix :- K 104
Note 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
Catterns £10 Operation Bernhard Banknotes
| Prefix |
Date |
The first two digits of the serial |
| 175 L |
19 May 1930 |
56 |
| 180 L |
18 Aug 1930 |
38 |
| |
|
|
| K 102 |
19 Feb 1932 |
71 72 75 |
| K 104 |
19 March 1932 |
67 70 |
| |
|
|
| K 112 |
18 Aug 1932 |
25 26 29 |
| K 113 |
19 Aug 1932 |
00 01 03 05 07 |
| |
|
|
| K 120 |
17 March 1933 |
01 02 |
| |
|
|
| K 129 |
17 Nov 1933 |
46 52 69 |
| K 131 # |
18 Nov 1934 (18 Jan 1934) |
87 |
| 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
| Prefix |
Date |
The first two digits of the serial |
| 43 M |
20 Sep 1930 |
10 12 13 14 16 25 27 33 34 56 |
| 44 M |
20 Nov 1930 |
07 13 14 17 18 19 49 55 56 57 58 59 |
| 45 M |
15 Dec 1931 |
30 31 38 43? 45 47 88 |
| 46 M |
20 Aug 1932 |
15 21 24 25 26 31 33 81 |
| 47 M |
15 Aug 1933 |
57 58 61 65 67 69 70 72 |
| Prefixes clamed 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
| Prefix |
Date |
The first two digits of the serial |
| 42 N |
20 March 1930 |
42 45 48 52 58 59 63 77 81 |
| 43 N |
not seen |
|
| 44 N |
20 June 1930 |
15 38 46 49 52 |
| 45 N |
not seen |
|
| 46 N |
not seen |
|
| 47 N |
20 May 1932 |
? |
| 48 N |
20 June 1932 |
62 67 73 |
| 49 N |
not seen |
|
| 50 N |
15 June 1933 |
07 11 17 18 20 23 24 25 27 34 37 38 54 82 |
| Prefixes clamed to have been printed in Stefano Poddi's article in IBNS Journal Vol 47, No 4 2008 |
| N 42 to N 50 |
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.
| The black circles around the TEN on a genuine note should all be round. As can be seen in the forgery above, |
| the circles are malfofmed, 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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