What was the old currency of Germany?

Answer 1

Over the centuries there have been many different coins minted in Germany.

The last coins in circulation before the "Euro was introduced in 2002,

were the "Deutsch Mark" and the "pfenning"

Answer 2

Germany used the Deutschmark (DM) from 1948 to 2002.

Prior to that there were various other currencies used, depending on who was in power. All were named with some variation of the word "Mark".

Answer 3

I actually am the original writer of what is below- new user, didn't have my settings organized properly so got the generic ID number. (GB Merlin) I add some new details below for the post WW1 period. The German currency before the DM was the "Reichsmark", 1924-48. The old Holy Roman Empire, decaying and dissolved under pressure from Napoleon in 1806, and especially the post-1815 German Confederation set up when Napoleon had been defeated, consisted of smaller states with varying and increasing degrees of autonomy up to practical independence. But because the old Holy Roman Empire had once been more united, it nevertheless had a tradition of unified or semi-unified currency. By the 18th century, this had broken down into several currency blocks mainly using the name "thaler" and theoretically a common currency for the whole Empire. A little like the Euro of today, it had a common name but various kings and princes minted coins with their own heads and symbols on them. I own a badly worn Prussian coin circa 1785 with the Prussian King's head but saying "einen reichsthaler". AS I recall, the idea was that in theory there was one imperial thaler, in practice divided into 2-3 regional blocks where it had different values, and with the larger princes and kings having the right to mint their own versions. There were also imperial mints. All of this was workable due to an established system of commercial law in the German lands, and to the fact that it was all backed by gold and silver. Under the post-1815 Confederation, the thaler system broke down a little more and several competing trade and currency blocks started to emerge alongside the competition for political and military leadership of the German states. Prussian leader Bismarck, who created the North German Confederation in 1866 and then the German Empire in 1871, created the conditions for a unified currency which was given the name Mark, which alongside thaler had a long tradition in Europe as the name for a coin or a unit of measure of precious metal. It was pegged to the gold standard, and is also called Goldmark and colloquially as Reichsmark. (there were probably many nuances to this process. Sorry, this is about all I know of the period, at least about the money aspects. For example, I am not sure what currency Prussia was using during the 1815-66 period, or how it relates to the North German Mark or the Imperial gold mark). This gold-based mark was the official currency of the German Empire well into WW1. It lost much value during that war and was removed from gold. Some sources refer to the old currency as the Goldmark and the new paper one as the Papiermark. I don't think it really constituted a new currency. The British pound was on and off gold a few times and remained the pound and was universally regarded as such. To some extent, this is a matter of perspective. In the immediate aftermath of WW1 Germany suffered inflation. The real hyperinflation came later, mainly following French 1923 occupation of the industrial Ruhr valley. Some scholars think the German government in effect connived in the economy-crippling inflation in order to inflate away the value of the war reparations Germany owed to France. During this period, Papiermarks also known as Reichsmarks were worth almost nothing, many thousands and then many millions to the US dollar. The subsequent stabilization of the money by the government in 1924 is often considered to be the creation of a new currency. Following an interim period in which the "Rentenmark" backed by farmland owned by a state bank was used, the name Reichsmark was readopted and formalized as the name of the money and remained the currency until after 1945. It was backed by gold at the same value as the Goldmark had before the war- 4.2 to the US dollar. It was already severely devalued by the end of WW2, due to inevitable war inflation and the Nazis' construction of a closed command war economy that likely could never have been given any sort of rational connection to market price mechanisms or currency exchange. The RM lost even the theoretical prospect of value by the complete destruction of the German economy and any kind of commercial trade and by the surrender and dissolution of the German state into the control of the Allied "Four Powers". The RM circulated, and lost even more value, after the war in temporary competition with Allied military "scrip" or occupation money but was eventually suppressed. The Western Allied occupation forces and nascent German authorities eventually reconstructed a common economic zone in the US, British and French zones to create an internal market. These zones eventually became the Federal Republic of Germany or "West Germany". A new currency was created in 1948 as the Deutsche Mark, in time for the creation of the FRG in 1949. I would suggest 3 reasons it was not called the Reichsmark. First, it is always better when replacing a severely devalued currency to take a new name. It makes the distinction clear and boosts confidence. Second, the traditional German term "Reich" had acquired ugly connotations. Third, technically it probably could not have been called Reichsmark because there was no more Reich and the Federal Republic was explicitly not the German Reich or its permanent successor state. It was planned to be temporary, until such time as an end to the Cold War would allow reunification of Germany and the signing of a proper peace treaty to end the Second World War. Until such time, the German Reich was presumed to maintain a kind of phantom legal existence, waiting to sign a peace treaty with the Occupying Powers. As the Cold War dragged on, the FRG acquired permanence and the various legal states of war were terminated without peace treaties, many but not all of the Allies occupation powers were ended and so forth. However, the peace was not final until the London Accords of 1990. At that time, these issues were all aired out and the speed of Warsaw Pact and East German collapse effectively meant that the temporary FRG in fact became the final successor of the "Reich" under its existing name. It simply absorbed the former East Germany. By then, things had long moved on in the world of currency. The Deutsche Mark was one of the best currencies in the world and the Euro was only a decade away, and was indeed already being considered. Plus the word Reich had lost none of its connotations from the war. There would have been no benefit to changing the DM's name, and I doubt it was ever considered.

Answer 4

The official currency of the Federal Republic of Germany(BRD) from 1948 to 2002 was the Deutsche Mark, when it changed to the Euro.

The official currency of the German Democratic Republic(DDR) from 1948 to 1990 was the DDR Mark, sometimes called the Ostmark. After 1990 the DDR used the Deutsche Mark, and became part of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Answer 5

The Deutsche Mark, was the official currency of Germany from 1948 to 2001. Since 2002 Germany has used the Euro (€).

Answer 6

The Deutsche Mark, was the official currency of Germany from 1948 to 2001. Since 2002 Germany has used the Euro (€).

Answer 7

the Deutsche Mark was the old currency.

Answer 8

DM, the "Deutsche Mark"