When was the deutschmark introduced

During the Wirtschaftswunder in the s, the Deutsche Mark became more and more successful, and in the following years, it became a hard currency with international standing. Even in other countries, it was adopted as legal tender during hard times, such as in parts of the former Yugoslavia. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is — more or less — still used today. It was linked to the Deutsche Mark and is now linked to the euro, but is called the Convertible Mark, and the bills and coins have a different look.

The Deutsche Mark has overcome many hard times and has always seemed to represent the values of Germany, such as stability and prosperity. That is one of many reasons why people still mourn the days of the Mark, especially during the financial crisis. However, that does not seem to be the reason why so many Marks are still circulation, according to the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Not only has a large amount of the money been transferred abroad mainly to the former Yugoslavia , but also, it is sometimes the way in which many Germans saved their money over the years.

People often mistrusted the banks, especially the older generation, and just hid cash somewhere in the house. That's why many cases are documented where large amounts of Deutsche Marks are discovered in houses or flats after the occupants died. After all, in most of the cases, the money might have just been forgotten—not only in hiding places but also in pants, jackets, or old wallets.

Also, much of the money that is still "circulating" is just waiting in collectors' albums to be found. Over the years, the Bundesbank has always published new specially-made coins to collect , most of them with a nominal value of 5 or 10 Marks. The good thing is, though, that one can still change Deutsche Marks into euros at the Bundesbank in the exchange rate of You can also return bills to the bank and get them replaced if they are partially damaged.

In case you find an album full of a D-Mark collector's coins, send them to the Bundesbank and get them exchanged. Some of them can be very precious today. If they are not, with the increasing silver prices, it might be a better idea to get them melted down.

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You are in: World: Europe. Although the official exchange rate between the Ostmark and Deutschemark was set at one-to-one, the Ostmark always traded at a discount. I remember when I visited East Berlin in , the black market rate was 5 Ostmark to the Deutschemark, but visitors to East Berlin had to exchange 25 Deutschemarks for 25 Ostmarks which looked like monopoly money as the price of entering East Berlin to see the walls of Babylon at the Pergamum Museum.

The Ostmarks had to be spent in East Berlin, and since I was thirsty, I bought a glass of Vita Cola, the East German version of Coca-Cola, a drink which made cod liver oil taste delicious by comparison. Vita Cola kept the formula for their soft drink secret, but more likely to protect the rest of the world rather than to hide trade secrets.

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