Reichsmark
The Reichsmark was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replaced by the Deutsche Mark, to become the currency of West Germany and then all of Germany after the 1990 reunification. The Reichsmark was used in the Soviet occupation zone in Germany until 23 June 1948, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig. The Mark is an ancient Germanic weight measure, traditionally a half pound, later used for several coins; Reich comes from the official name for the German state from 1871 to 1945, German Reich.
History
The Reichsmark was introduced in 1924 as a permanent replacement for the Papiermark. This was necessary due to the 1920s German inflation which had reached its peak in 1923. The exchange rate between the old Papiermark and the Reichsmark was = 1012 ℳ︁. To stabilize the economy and to smooth the transition, the Papiermark was not directly replaced by the Reichsmark, but by the Rentenmark, an interim currency backed by the Deutsche Rentenbank, owning industrial and agricultural real estate assets. The Reichsmark was put on the gold standard at the rate previously used by the German mark, with the U.S. dollar worth.Expansion outside the Reichsmark
During this period a number of shell companies were created and authorized to issue bonds outside the Reichsmark in order to finance state projects. Nominally exchangeable at a 1:1 rate for Reichsmarks but then discounted by the Reichsbank this created secret monetary expansion without formally renouncing the gold standard of the Reichsmark.World War II
With the annexation of the Federal State of Austria by Germany in 1938, the Reichsmark replaced the Austrian schilling. During the Second World War, Germany established fixed exchange rates between the Reichsmark and the currencies of the occupied and allied countries, often set so as to give economic benefits to German soldiers and civilian contractors, who were paid their wages in local currency. The rates were as follows:| Currency | Date set | Value per |
| Belgian franc | May 1940 | Fr100 |
| Belgian franc | July 1940 | Fr125 |
| Bohemia and Moravia crown | April 1939 | K100 |
| Bulgarian lev | 1940 | Lev333.33 |
| Danish crown | 1940 | DKr10 |
| French franc | May 1940 | Fr200 |
| Italian lira | 1943 | Lit100 |
| Luxembourg franc | May 1940 | Fr40 |
| Luxembourg franc | July 1940 | Fr100 |
| Dutch guilder | 10 May 1940 | ƒ6.66 |
| Dutch guilder | 17 July 1940 | ƒ7.57 |
| Norwegian crown | 1940 | NKr13.33 |
| Norwegian crown | ? | NKr17.50 |
| Polish złoty | 1939 | zł20 |
| Sterling | 1940 | £017sd |
| Croatian kuna | April 1941 | Kn200 |
| Slovak crown | 1939 | Sk100 |
| Slovak crown | 1 October 1940 | Sk116.20 |
| Finnish mark | 1941 | FMk197.44 |
Post-war
After the Second World War, the Reichsmark continued to circulate in Germany, but with new banknotes printed in the US and in the Soviet zones, as well as with coins. Inflation in the final months of the war had reduced the value of the Reichsmark from = $1US to = $1US and a barter economy emerged due to the rapid depreciation.After V-E Day, the Reichsmark's value decreased to 200 per dollar. While for German civilians one Allied Occupation Mark was equivalent to one Reichsmark, soldiers selling things civilians wanted on the black market could receive Reichsmarks, exchange them for Allied Occupation Marks, then exchange Allied Occupation Marks at ten per dollar. A carton of American cigarettes the post exchange sold to soldiers for $0.50 was worth 150 marks or $15 to German civilians; matches were the change.
The Currency Reform of 1948 replaced the Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark at a rate of 10:1 in June 1948 in the Trizone and later in the same year by the East German mark in the Soviet Occupation Zone. The reform under the direction of Ludwig Erhard is considered the beginning of the West German economic recovery; however, the secret plan to introduce the Deutsche Mark in the Trizone was formulated by economist Edward A. Tenenbaum of the US military government, and was executed abruptly on 21 June 1948. Three days later, the new currency also replaced the Reichsmark in the three Western sectors of Berlin. In November 1945, the Reichsmark was superseded by the Second Austrian schilling in Austria. In 1947, the Saar mark, later replaced with the Saar franc, was introduced in the Saar.
Coins
Denominations
In 1924, coins were introduced in denominations of 1 ℛ︁₰, 2 ℛ︁₰, 5 ℛ︁₰, 10 ℛ︁₰, and 50 ℛ︁₰, and 1 ℳ︁ and 3 ℳ︁.4
4 'Reichspfennig' coins were issued in 1932 as part of a failed attempt by the Reichskanzler Heinrich Brüning to reduce prices through use of 4 ℛ︁₰ pieces instead of 5 ℛ︁₰ coins. Known as the Brüningtaler or Armer Heinrich, they were demonetized the following year. See Brüningtaler. The quality of the Reichsmark coins decreased more and more towards the end of World War II and misprints happened more frequently. Since the 4 ℛ︁₰ coin was only slightly larger than the 1 ℳ︁ coin and the imperial eagle looked similar, an attempt was made to pass it off as a 1-reichsmark coin by silvering the 4 ℛ︁₰ coin.10
The zinc 10 Reichspfennig coin was minted by Nazi Germany between 1940 and 1945 during World War II, replacing the aluminium-bronze version, which had a distinct golden colour. It is worth or.10 of a Reichsmark. Made entirely of zinc, the 10 ℛ︁₰ is an emergency issue type, similar to the zinc 1 ℛ︁₰ and 5 ℛ︁₰, and the aluminium 50 ℛ︁₰ coins from the same period.Mint marks
Nazi Germany had a number of mints. Each mint location had its own identifiable letter. It is therefore possible to identify exactly which mint produced what coin by noting the mint mark on the coin. Not all mints were authorized to produce coins every year. The mints were also only authorized to produce a set number of coins with some mints allocated a greater production than others. Some of the coins with particular mint marks are therefore scarcer than others. With the silver and coins, the mint mark is found under the date on the left side of the coin. On the smaller denomination Reichspfennig coins, the mint mark is found on the bottom center of the coin.| Mint mark | Mint location | Notes | References |
| A | State Mint Berlin, Germany | Capital of Germany | |
| B | Austrian Mint Vienna, Austria | Capital of Austria | |
| D | Bavarian Central Mint Munich, Germany | Capital of Bavaria | |
| E | near Dresden, Germany | Capital of Saxony | |
| F | Stuttgart, Germany | Capital of Württemberg | |
| G | Karlsruhe, Germany | Capital of Baden | |
| J | Mint of Hamburg, Germany |
Mintage
| Year | Mintage | Notes |
| 1940 A | 212,948,000 | |
| 1940 B | 76,274,000 | |
| 1940 D | 45,434,000 | |
| 1940 E | 34,350,000 | |
| 1940 F | 27,603,000 | |
| 1940 G | 27,308,000 | |
| 1940 J | 41,678,000 |
| Year | Mintage | Notes |
| 1941 A | 240,284,000 | |
| 1941 B | 70,747,000 | |
| 1941 D | 77,560,000 | |
| 1941 E | 36,548,000 | |
| 1941 F | 42,834,000 | |
| 1941 G | 28,765,000 | |
| 1941 J | 30,525,000 |
| Year | Mintage | Notes |
| 1942 A | 184,545,000 | |
| 1942 B | 16,329,000 | |
| 1942 D | 40,852,000 | |
| 1942 E | 18,334,000 | |
| 1942 F | 32,690,000 | |
| 1942 G | 20,295,000 | |
| 1942 J | 29,957,000 |
| Year | Mintage | Notes |
| 1943 A | 157,357,000 | |
| 1943 B | 11,940,000 | |
| 1943 D | 17,304,000 | |
| 1943 E | 10,445,000 | |
| 1943 F | 24,804,000 | |
| 1943 G | 3,618,000 | Rare |
| 1943 J | 1,821,000 | Rare |
| Year | Mintage | Notes |
| 1944 A | 84,164,000 | |
| 1944 B | 40,781,000 | |
| 1944 D | 30,369,000 | |
| 1944 E | 29,963,000 | |
| 1944 F | 19,639,000 | |
| 1944 G | 13,023,000 |
| Year | Mintage | Notes |
| 1945 A | 7,112,000 | Rare |
| 1945 E | 4,897,000 | Rare |