The Mark was the currency of

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

between 1885 and 1915. Until 1914, the

German Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

circulated. Within days of the outbreak of the

First World War 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, ...

, an issue of paper money titled ''Deutsch-Südwestafrikanische Mark'' was authorized in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Marks.

History

From 1884 to 1901, the main currency of German South West Africa was the British Pound Sterling. However, in 1885, the German South West African mark began to be circulated. In 1893, an established rate of £1 for every 20 ℳ. It is worth noting that the gold content of the

British Pound Sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, an ...

was 7.3224 grams, while the gold content of 20 marks was 7.168 grams. According to

Gresham's Law In economics, Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good". For example, if there are two forms of commodity money in circulation, which are accepted by law as having similar face value, the more valuable com ...

, "bad money drives out good", so the "bad" Mark replaced the "good" British Pound Sterling. In 1901, the German Mark became the official currency of

, hence replacing the 20 and 5 mark denominations of the German South West African Mark, for which they were also demonetized (although, they continued use in the metropolis of German South West Africa until 1907). In 1923, the coins of the German South West African Mark were demonetized also. At the beginning of the

, it was decided to produce cash-coupon banknotes thereafter; this occurred until the occupation by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in 1915 officially replaced the Mark with the pound. The

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

Chamber of Commerce issued ''Gutscheine'' (vouchers) denominated in

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, ...

and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

between 1916 and 1918.

Banknotes in 1914

When after the beginning of the

when the cash-coupon banknotes began to be used, were denominated into five denominations, of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 marks.

References

Sources

Banknotes of German South West Africa
Currencies of Africa Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Germany German South West Africa 1884 establishments in German South West Africa 1915 disestablishments in South West Africa Currencies of Namibia {{Germany-hist-stub