5 Mark

The Grossherzoglich Luxemburgische National Bank had a short operational lifespan — it was dissolved in 1881, just five years after this note was issued, when the International Bank of Luxembourg absorbed its functions. The 1876 series thus represents the bank's entire mature note-issuing period, compressed into a handful of denominations across a few years.

Luxembourg's monetary situation in the 1870s was genuinely complicated: the country was simultaneously a member of the German Customs Union and tied to Belgian franc circulation in practice, which created persistent ambiguity about which paper instruments would actually be accepted where.

Pick 18 is scarce by any measure — survivors in any condition are rarely offered.