Operation Bernhard, WWII Nazi Forgery Issue. Bank Of England. Five Pounds £5 Banknote, London 21st September 1937. KO Peppiatt. Serial: B/149 30596.
 
“Operation Bernhard was an exercise by Nazi Germany to forge British bank notes. The initial plan was to drop the notes over Britain to bring about a collapse of the British economy during the Second World War. The first phase was run from early 1940 by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) under the title Unternehmen Andreas (Operation Andreas). The unit 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. The unit closed in early 1942.”
 
Light fold marks, a few other creases and light discolouration to edges. Some edge roughness in places. Top right corner angled. Some pin holes.