Publications and Research

Spring 1996

Recent developments in monetary aggregates and their implications by Louis-Robert Lafleur and Walter Engert Financing activities of provincial governments and their enterprises by Philip Wooldridge The role of inventory management in Canadian economic fluctuations by Hung-Hay Lau

Cover: Danzig: 20-gulden note, 1932

This note was issued in 1932 by the Bank von Danzig. Along with other coins and bank notes that have survived, it attests to the brief period, between the two world wars, when Danzig was a free city.

Danzig was an important Baltic port as early as 997, and over the centuries it fell successively to a number of warring states. Claimed at various times by Pomerania, Poland, Brandenburg and Denmark, Danzig came under Polish rule for the lengthy period from 1455 to 1772. In 1793 it was annexed to Prussia and remained part of the German Empire until the end of World War 1.

In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles made Danzig a free city protected by the League of Nations. However, its new-found status was short-lived, and in 1939 Danzig and its largely German-speaking population became part of Germany again. At the end of World War II, Danzig was granted to Poland and was renamed Gdansk.

The 20-gulden note depicts two lions supporting the crowned arms of the city, which date back to medieval times. The centre portion features a local tower known as the 'stockturm.'

This note is part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada.

Photography by James Zagon.