The German mark (german: Goldmark ;
sign
A sign is an Physical object, object, quality (philosophy), quality, event, or Non-physical entity, entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to ...
: ℳ) was the currency of the
German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the
pfennig
The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, ...
(₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the
gold standard
A gold standard is a Backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
from 1871–1914, but like most nations during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the German Empire removed the gold backing in August 1914, and gold and silver coins ceased to circulate.
After the fall of the Empire due to the
November Revolution of 1918, the mark was succeeded by the
Weimar Republic
The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...
's mark, derisively referred to as the
Papiermark ("Paper mark") due to
hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic
Hyperinflation affected the German Papiermark, the currency of the Weimar Republic, between 1921 and 1923, primarily in 1923. It caused considerable internal political instability in the country, the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium ...
from 1918–1923.
History
The introduction of the German mark in 1873 was the culmination of decades-long efforts to unify the various currencies used by the
German Confederation
The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire ...
.
[pp 205-218 https://books.google.com/books?id=GrJCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA205#v=onepage&q&f=false] The
Zollverein
The (), or German Customs Union, was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1834. However, its foundations had ...
unified in 1838 the Prussian and South German currencies at a fixed rate of 1
Prussian thaler =
South German gulden = 16.704 g fine silver. A larger currency convention in 1857 replaced the Prussian thaler with the
Vereinsthaler of g fine silver, equivalent to 1
North German thaler,
Austro-Hungarian florin
The florin (german: Gulden, hu, forint, hr, forinta/florin, cs, zlatý) was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892 (known as the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867 and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy after 1867) ...
s, or
South German gulden.
Unification to this system proceeded further due to
German Unification
The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of ...
in 1871 as well as monetary conventions from 1865 to 1870 expressing a desire to move to the
gold standard
A gold standard is a Backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
.
For this system a new unit ''mark'' was proposed equal to a ''drittelthaler'' or Vereinsthaler, also equal to the Austrian gulden, but decimally divided into 100 pfennig instead of the existing 120 pfennig. Combined with a gold-silver ratio of 15.5, the new mark of g fine silver was therefore equivalent to g fine gold. With 5 billion
gold francs (equivalent to 4.05 billion gold marks) secured from France at the
end of the Franco-Prussian War, the new currency was launched in 1873 in the form of gold 10-mark and 20-mark coins as well as limited legal-tender silver marks and copper pfennigs. The
German Empire's conversion to the
gold standard
A gold standard is a Backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
led to the same being adopted in the rest of Europe and North America, as well as the change in standard in the
Latin Monetary Union from
bimetallism to solely gold.
Despite the
Vereinsthaler being a
silver standard currency, it remained unlimited legal tender for 3 gold marks until it was demonetized in 1908. The
South German gulden of Vereinsthaler was converted to or 1.71 gold marks. The gold-based
Bremen thaler was converted directly to the mark at a rate of 1 Thaler gold = or 3.32 marks. The
Hamburg mark courant or currency was converted at 1 mark = 1.2 Imperial marks, and the
Hamburg mark banco of the
Bank of Hamburg was converted at 1 mark banco = 1.5 Imperial marks.
From 1 January 1876 onwards, the mark and became the only
legal tenders. Before 1914, the mark was on a
gold standard
A gold standard is a Backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
with 2790 marks equal to 1 kilogram of pure gold (1 mark = 358 mg). The term was created later to retrospectively distinguish it from the (paper mark) which suffered a serious loss of value through hyperinflation following World War I during
hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic
Hyperinflation affected the German Papiermark, the currency of the Weimar Republic, between 1921 and 1923, primarily in 1923. It caused considerable internal political instability in the country, the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium ...
. For comparison, from 1900 to 1933, the United States adhered to a gold standard as well with the
gold dollar containing 23.22
grains or 1.50463 g fine gold; it was therefore worth 4.198 gold marks. The
monetary hegemon of the time when the gold mark was in use, however, was the
pound sterling, with £1 being valued at 20.43 gold marks.
World War I reparations
Following the ratification of article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of World War I, the Central Powers were made to give war reparations to the Allied Powers. Each of the defeated powers was required to make payments in eit ...
owed by Germany were stated in gold reserves in 1921, 1929 and 1931; this was the victorious Allies' response to their fear that vanquished Germany might try to pay off the obligation in paper currency. The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out was not the 132 billion marks cited in the London Schedule of 1921 but rather the 50 billion marks stipulated in the A and B Bonds. The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 (when payments were suspended indefinitely) was 20 billion German gold marks, worth about or . Most of that money came from loans from New York bankers.
Following the
Nazi seizure of power
Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...
in 1933, payments of reparations were officially abandoned.
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
did not resume payment of reparations as such, but did resume the payment of debt that Germany had acquired in the inter-war period to finance its reparation payments, paying off the principal on those debts by 1980. The interest on those debts was paid off on 3 October 2010, the 20th anniversary of
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
.
Coins
Coins of denominations between 1 pfennig and 1 mark were issued in standard designs for the whole empire, whilst those above 1 mark were issued by the individual states, using a standard design for the reverses (the , the eagle insignia of the German Empire) with a design specific to the state on the obverse, generally a portrait of the monarch of the kingdom or duchy (and not that of the emperor); while the free cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck each used the city's coat of arms. Occasionally
commemorative coins were minted, in which cases the obverse and (much more rarely) the reverse designs might depart from the usual pictorial standards. Many of the smaller states issued coins in very small numbers. Also, in general all states' coinage became very limited after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
began. Well-preserved examples of such low-mintage coins can be rare and valuable. The
Principality of Lippe
Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a historical state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser river and the southeast part of the Teutoburg Forest.
It was founded in the 1640s under a sepa ...
was the only state not to issue any gold coins in this period.
Base metal coins
* 1 pfennig (
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...
: 1873–1916, aluminium: 1916–1918)
* 2 pfennig (copper: 1873–1916)
* 5 pfennig (
cupro-nickel
Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. ( Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a ...
: 1873–1915, iron: 1915–1922)
* 10 pfennig (cupro-nickel: 1873–1916, iron and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic t ...
: 1915–1922)
* 20 pfennig (cupro-nickel, 1887–1892)
* 25 pfennig (
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...
, 1909–1912)
Silver coins
Subsidiary silver coins were minted in .900
fineness
The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hard ...
to a standard of 5 grams silver per mark. Production of 2 and 5 mark coins ceased in 1915 while 1-mark coins continued to be issued until 1916. A few 3 mark coins were minted until 1918, and mark coins continued to be issued in silver until 1919.
* 20 pfennig, 1.1111 g (1 g silver), only until 1878
* mark or 50 pfennig, 2.7778 g (2.5 g silver)
* 1 mark, 5.5555 g (5 g silver)
* 2 mark, 11.1111 g (10 g silver)
* 3 mark, 16.6667 g (15 g silver), from 1908 onwards
* 5 mark, 27.7778 g (25 g silver)
These silver coins are token or subsidiary currency for the gold mark and are therefore legal tender only up to 20 marks. However, all silver 3-mark s issued before 1871 enjoyed unlimited legal tender status even after the switch-over to the
gold standard
A gold standard is a Backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
. This ended with the demonetization of the in 1908 and the introduction of the new subsidiary 3-mark coins.
The 5-mark coin, however, was significantly closer in value to older thalers (and other such crown-sized coins).
Gold coins
Gold coins were minted in .900 fineness to a standard of 2790 mark = 1 kilogram of gold (a mark was therefore about 0.3584 g of gold). Gold coin production ceased in 1915. 5-mark gold coins were minted only in 1877 and 1878.
* 5 mark, 1.9912 g (1.7921 g gold)
* 10 mark, 3.9825 g (3.5842 g gold)
* 20 mark, 7.965 g (7.1685 g gold)
Banknotes
Banknotes were issued by the Imperial Treasury (known as "Reichskassenschein") and the
Reichsbank
The ''Reichsbank'' (; 'Bank of the Reich, Bank of the Realm') was the central bank of the German Reich from 1876 until 1945.
History until 1933
The Reichsbank was founded on 1 January 1876, shortly after the establishment of the German Emp ...
, as well as by the banks of some of the states. Imperial Treasury notes were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 Mark, whilst Reichsbank notes were produced in denominations of 20, 50, 100 and 1000 Mark. The notes issued after 1914 are referred to as
Papiermark.
Currency signs
In Unicode, the Mark sign is . The Pfennig is .
Notes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:German Mark
Economy of the German Empire
Currencies of Germany
Currencies of Cameroon
Mark
Modern obsolete currencies
1871 establishments in Germany
1914 disestablishments in Germany
Art Nouveau works
Currency symbols