20 Mark Allied Occupation

The Allied Military Authority mark notes of 1944 were produced in both the United States and the Soviet Union — the US Treasury made the critical error of sharing the printing plates and ink specifications with Moscow, ostensibly to allow Soviet forces to pay their own troops in occupied Germany. The Soviets printed vast quantities without restriction, contributing directly to postwar inflation in the occupation zones and generating a windfall for Soviet personnel who exchanged their freely-printed marks for dollars at the fixed military rate.

Forbes Lithograph in Boston handled the American run. The plate-sharing arrangement was not formally acknowledged for years after the damage was done.