() is the name given to a

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

denominated in which was issued by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1918 for use in a part of the eastern areas under German control at that time, the area. The currency consisted of

paper money A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

issued on 4 April 1918 by the in (

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

) and was equal to the German . The circulated alongside the Imperial rouble and the , with two equal to one .

Denominations

GER-R134-Darlehnskassenschein-1000 Mark (1918)

The denominations available were: * mark; * 1 mark; * 2 marks; * 5 marks; * 20 marks; * 50 marks; * 100 marks; * 1000 marks. The reverse sides of the carry a warning against forging banknotes in German, Latvian and Lithuanian.

Aftermath

The Ostmark and Ostrubel continued to circulate in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

from the end of

World War I 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 fightin ...

until 1 October 1922, when they were replaced by the . The names and were used for and , for example, on

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s. The reason for the replacement was the link to the , which already suffered from inflation (and would spiral into

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

in 1923). The was pegged to the

U.S. dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

Bibliography

* * N. Jakimovs and V. Marcilger, ''The Postal and Monetary History of Latvia 1918–1945'', own book, 1991, pp. 14–13 - 14–15.

External links

German banknotes, a.o. Ostrubels and Ostmarks.
{{Mark Currencies of Germany Currencies of Lithuania German Empire in World War I Modern obsolete currencies 1918 establishments in Germany 1922 disestablishments Currencies introduced in 1918