German Papiermark

The Papiermark (pronunciation ; English: "paper mark", officially just Mark, sign: ℳ) was the German currency from 4 August 1914[1] when the link between the Goldmark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I. In particular, Papiermarks were the banknotes issued during the hyperinflation in Germany of 1922 and especially 1923.

German Papiermark
Mark (in German)
100 trillion Mark
Denominations
Subunit
1/100	Pfennig
Plural	Mark
Pfennig	Pfennig
Symbol	ℳ
Pfennig	₰
Banknotes	1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 Mark 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 thousand Mark 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 million Mark 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 billion Mark 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 trillion Mark
Coins	1, 2, 5, 10, 50 Pfennig(1/2 Mark) 1, 3, 200, 500 Mark
Demographics
User(s)	German Empire Weimar Republic Free City of Danzig
Issuance
Central bank	Reichsbank
Valuation
Pegged with	United States dollar = 4.2 trillion Mark = 4.20 Rentenmark
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

History

From 1914, the value of the mark fell. The rate of inflation rose following the end of World War I and reached its highest point in October 1923. The currency stabilized in November 1923 after the announcement of the creation of the Rentenmark, although the Rentenmark did not come into circulation until 1924. When it did, it replaced the Papiermark at the rate of 1 trillion (10¹²) Papiermark to 1 Rentenmark. On 30 August 1924 the Rentenmark was replaced by the Reichsmark.[2]

In addition to the issues of the government, emergency issues of both tokens and paper money, known as Kriegsgeld (war money) and Notgeld (emergency money), were produced by local authorities.

The Papiermark was also used in the Free City of Danzig until replaced by the Danzig Gulden in late 1923. Several coins and emergency issues in Papiermark were issued by the free city.

Coins

5 million Mark coin would have been worth $714.29 in January 1923, about 1 thousandth of one cent by October 1923.

During the war, cheaper metals were introduced for coins, including aluminium, zinc and iron, although silver ½ Mark pieces continued in production until 1919. Aluminium 1 Pfennig were produced until 1918 and the 2 Pfennig until 1916. Whilst iron 5 Pfennig, both iron and zinc 10 Pfennig and aluminium 50 Pfennig coins were issued until 1922. Aluminium 3 Mark were issued in 1922 and 1923, and aluminium 200 and 500 Mark were issued in 1923. The quality of many of these coins varied from decent to poor.

During this period, many provinces and cities also had their own corresponding coin and note issues, referred to as Notgeld currency. This came about often due to a shortage of exchangeable tender in one region or another during the war and hyperinflation periods. Some of the most memorable of these to be issued during this period came from Westfalen and featured the highest face value denominations on a coin ever, eventually reaching 1,000,000,000,000 Mark.[3]

Banknotes

First World War issues

In 1914, the State Loan Office began issuing paper money known as Darlehnskassenscheine (loan fund notes). These circulated alongside the issues of the Reichsbank. Most were 1- and 2-Mark notes but there were also 5-, 20-, 50- and 100-Mark notes.

Post War issues

The victor nations in World War I decided to assess Germany for their costs of conducting the war against Germany. With no means of paying in gold or currency backed by reserves, Germany ran the presses, causing the value of the Mark to collapse. Between 1914 and the end of 1923 the Papiermark's rate of exchange against the U.S. dollar plummeted from 4.2 mark/dollar to 4.2 trillion mark/dollar.[4] The price of one gold mark (0.35842g gold weight) in German paper currency at the end of 1918 was two paper mark, but by the end of 1919 a gold mark cost 10 paper mark.[5] This inflation worsened between 1920 and 1922, and the cost of a gold mark (or conversely the devaluation of the paper mark) rose from 15 to 1,282 paper mark.[5] In 1923 the value of the paper mark had its worst decline. By July, the cost of a gold mark had risen to 101,112 paper mark, and in September was already at 13 million.[5] On 30 Nov 1923 it cost 1 trillion paper mark to buy a single gold mark.[5]

In October 1923, Germany experienced a 29,500% hyperinflation (roughly 21% interest per day).[6] Historically, this one-month inflation rate has only been exceeded three times: Yugoslavia, 313,000,000% (64.6% per day, January 1994); Zimbabwe, 79.6 billion% (98% per day, November 2008); and Hungary, 41.9 quadrillion% (207% per day, July 1946).[6]

On 15 November 1923 the Papiermark was replaced by the rentenmark at 4.2 rentenmark/dollar,[4] or 1 trillion Papiermark/rentenmark (exchangeable through July 1925).[7]

During the hyperinflation, ever higher denominations of banknotes were issued by the Reichsbank[8] and other institutions (notably the Reichsbahn railway company).[9] The Papiermark was produced and circulated in enormously large quantities. Before the war, the highest denomination was 1000-Mark, equivalent to approximately 50 British pounds or 238 US dollars. In early 1922, 10,000-Mark notes were introduced, followed by 100,000- and 1 million-Mark notes in February 1923. July 1923 saw notes up to 50 million-Mark, with 10 milliard (10¹⁰)-Mark notes introduced in September. The hyperinflation peaked in October 1923 and banknote denominations rose to 100 trillion (10¹⁴)-Mark. At the end of the hyperinflation, these notes were worth approximately £5 sterling or US$24.

Denomination Translations

There is a confusion that frequently arises when translating German to English with regard to denominations, as the exact same words, in some cases, exist in both languages but represent different denominations, as is the case with the word "Billion". So to alleviate that confusion, a simple chart of translations.

GERMAN	ENGLISH
Million / Millionen	Million / Million
Millard(e) / Milliarden	Billion / Billions
Billion / Billionen	Trillion / Trillions

Weimar Republic (1920–24)

Republic Treasury Notes, Weimar Republic Reichsbanknote

Year	Issue	Value[nb 1]	Date[nb 2]	Image	Comments
1920	First[10]	10	6 Feb 1920		126 mm × 84 mm (5.0 in × 3.3 in)
		50	23 Jul 1920		150 mm × 100 mm (5.9 in × 3.9 in)
		100	1 Nov 1920		Portraits based on the Bamberg riders at Bamberg Cathedral 162 mm × 108 mm (6.4 in × 4.3 in)
1922	First[11]	10,000	19 Jan 1922		Portrait of a young Man by Albrecht Dürer 210 mm × 124 mm (8.3 in × 4.9 in)
	Second[12]	500	27 Mar 1922		Jakob Meyer of the Meyer zum Pfeil family 175 mm × 112 mm (6.9 in × 4.4 in)
		500	7 Jul 1922		173 mm × 90 mm (6.8 in × 3.5 in)
	Third[12]	100	4 Aug 1922		162 mm × 90 mm (6.4 in × 3.5 in)
		1,000	15 Sep 1922		160 mm × 85 mm (6.3 in × 3.3 in)
		5,000	16 Sep 1922		Section of Portrait of a Man with a Coin by Hans Memling 130 mm × 90 mm (5.1 in × 3.5 in)
		5,000	19 Nov 1922		Portrait of Hans Urmiller based on Portrait of Hans Urmiller and his Son by Barthel Beham 198 mm × 107 mm (7.8 in × 4.2 in)
		50,000	19 Nov 1922		Bürgermeister Arnold von Brauweiler based on Burgomaster Arnold von Brauweiler by Barthel Bruyn the Elder 190 mm × 110 mm (7.5 in × 4.3 in)
	Fourth[12]	5,000	2 Dec 1922		Merchant Imhof based on Portrait of a Man by Albrecht Dürer 130 mm × 90 mm (5.1 in × 3.5 in)
	Fifth[13]	1,000	15 Dec 1922		Portrait of Jörg Herz based on Jörg Herz Nürnberger Münzmeister by Georg Pencz 140 mm × 90 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in)
1923	First[13]	100,000	1 Feb 1923		Merchant Georg Giese based on Portrait of Georg Giese by Hans Holbein the Younger 190 mm × 115 mm (7.5 in × 4.5 in)
	Second[13]	10,000	3 Feb 1923		Not issued
		20,000	20 Feb 1923		160 mm × 95 mm (6.3 in × 3.7 in)
		1 million	20 Feb 1923		160 mm × 110 mm (6.3 in × 4.3 in)
	Third[14]	5,000	15 Mar 1923		Portrait of Hans Urmiller based on Portrait of Hans Urmiller and his Son by Barthel Beham 148 mm × 90 mm (5.8 in × 3.5 in)
		500,000	1 May 1923		170 mm × 95 mm (6.7 in × 3.7 in)
		2 million	23 Jul 1923		Merchant Georg Giese based on Portrait of Georg Giese by Hans Holbein the Younger 162 mm × 87 mm (6.4 in × 3.4 in)
		5 million	1 Jun 1923		170 mm × 95 mm (6.7 in × 3.7 in)
	Fourth[15]	100,000	25 Jul 1923		110 mm × 80 mm (4.3 in × 3.1 in)
		500,000	25 Jul 1923		175 mm × 80 mm (6.9 in × 3.1 in)
		1 million	25 Jul 1923		160 mm × 95 mm (6.3 in × 3.7 in)
		1 million	25 Jul 1923		185 mm × 80 mm (7.3 in × 3.1 in)
		5 million	25 Jul 1923		190 mm × 80 mm (7.5 in × 3.1 in)
		10 million	25 Jul 1923		195 mm × 80 mm (7.7 in × 3.1 in)
		20 million	25 Jul 1923		195 mm × 83 mm (7.7 in × 3.3 in)
		50 million	25 Jul 1923		195 mm × 86 mm (7.7 in × 3.4 in)
	Fifth[16]	50,000	9 Aug 1923		105 mm × 70 mm (4.1 in × 2.8 in)
		200,000	9 Aug 1923		115 mm × 70 mm (4.5 in × 2.8 in)
		1 million	9 Aug 1923		120 mm × 80 mm (4.7 in × 3.1 in)
		2 million	9 Aug 1923		125 mm × 80 mm (4.9 in × 3.1 in)
		5 million	20 Aug 1923		128 mm × 80 mm (5.0 in × 3.1 in)
		10 million	22 Aug 1923		125 mm × 80 mm (4.9 in × 3.1 in)
		100 million	22 Aug 1923		150 mm × 85 mm (5.9 in × 3.3 in)
	Sixth[17]	20 million	1 Sep 1923		125 mm × 82 mm (4.9 in × 3.2 in)
		50 million	1 Sep 1923		124 mm × 84 mm (4.9 in × 3.3 in)
		500 million	1 Sep 1923		155 mm × 85 mm (6.1 in × 3.3 in)
		500 billion	1 Sep 1923		Specimen only
		1 trillion	1 Sep 1923		Specimen only
	Seventh[17]	1 billion	5 Sep 1923		Overprinted on 15 Dec 1922 note 140 mm × 90 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in)
		1 billion	5 Sep 1923		160 mm × 86 mm (6.3 in × 3.4 in)
		5 billion	10 Sep 1923		165 mm × 85 mm (6.5 in × 3.3 in)
		10 billion	15 Sep 1923
		10 billion	1 Oct 1923		160 mm × 105 mm (6.3 in × 4.1 in)
		20 billion	1 Oct 1923		140 mm × 90 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in)
		50 billion	10 Oct 1923		176 mm × 86 mm (6.9 in × 3.4 in)
		200 billion	15 Oct 1923		140 mm × 80 mm (5.5 in × 3.1 in)
	Eighth[18]	1 billion	20 Oct 1923		127 mm × 61 mm (5.0 in × 2.4 in)
		5 billion	20 Oct 1923		130 mm × 64 mm (5.1 in × 2.5 in)
		500 billion	20 Oct 1923		Overprinted on 15 Mar 1923 note Portrait of Hans Urmiller based on Portrait of Hans Urmiller and his Son by Barthel Beham 145 mm × 90 mm (5.7 in × 3.5 in)
	Ninth[18]	50 billion	26 Oct 1923		135 mm × 65 mm (5.3 in × 2.6 in)
		100 billion	26 Oct 1923		135 mm × 65 mm (5.3 in × 2.6 in)
		500 billion	26 Oct 1923		137 mm × 65 mm (5.4 in × 2.6 in)
		100 billion	26 Oct 1923		174 mm × 86 mm (6.9 in × 3.4 in)
	Tenth[19]	1 trillion	1 Nov 1923		137 mm × 65 mm (5.4 in × 2.6 in)
		5 trillion	1 Nov 1923		168 mm × 86 mm (6.6 in × 3.4 in)
		10 trillion	1 Nov 1923		171 mm × 86 mm (6.7 in × 3.4 in)
		10 trillion	1 Nov 1923		120 mm × 82 mm (4.7 in × 3.2 in)
	Eleventh[20]	100 billion	5 Nov 1923		135 mm × 65 mm (5.3 in × 2.6 in)
		1 trillion	5 Nov 1923		143 mm × 86 mm (5.6 in × 3.4 in)
		2 trillion	5 Nov 1923		120 mm × 71 mm (4.7 in × 2.8 in)
		5 trillion	7 Nov 1923		165 mm × 86 mm (6.5 in × 3.4 in)
1924	First[20]	10 trillion	1 Feb 1924		140 mm × 72 mm (5.5 in × 2.8 in)
		20 trillion	5 Feb 1924		Portrait of a woman based on Portrait of a young Venetian woman by Albrecht Dürer 160 mm × 95 mm (6.3 in × 3.7 in)
		50 trillion	10 Feb 1924		Jakob Muffel based on Portrait of Jakob Muffel by Albrecht Dürer 175 mm × 95 mm (6.9 in × 3.7 in)
		100 trillion	15 Feb 1924		Portrait of Willibald Pirckheimer based on a painting by Albrecht Dürer 180 mm × 95 mm (7.1 in × 3.7 in)
	Second[21]	5 trillion	15 Mar 1924		120 mm × 72 mm (4.7 in × 2.8 in)

Danzig

The Danziger Privat Actien-Bank (opened 1856) was the first bank established in Danzig.[22] They issued two series of notes denominated in thalers (1857 and 1862–73) prior to issuing the mark (1875, 1882, 1887).[23] These mark issues are extremely rare.[23] The Ostbank fur Handel and Gewerbe opened 16 March 1857, and by 1911 two additional banks (the Imperial Bank of Germany and the Norddeutsche Credit-Anstalt) were in operation.[24]

Issuance of the Danzig Papiermark

The Papiermark was issued by Danzig from 1914 to 1923.[25] Five series were issued during World War I by the City Council (1914, 1916, 1918 first and second issue, and 1919).[26] Denominations ranged from 10 pfennig to 20 mark.[26] The Free City of Danzig municipal senate issued an additional four post-World War I series of notes (1922, 1923 First issue, 1923 Provisional issue, and 1923 Inflation issue).[27] The 1922 issue (31 October 1922) was denominated in 100, 500, and 1000 mark notes.[28] The denominations for the 1923 issue were 1000 (15 March 1923), and 10000 and 50000 mark notes (20 March 1923).[29] The 1923 provisional issue reused earlier notes with a large red stamp indicating the new (and higher) denominations of 1 million (8 August 1923) and 5 million (15 October 1923) mark.[30] The last series of Danzig mark was the 1923 inflation issue of 1 million (8 August 1923), 10 million (31 August 1923), 100 million (22 September 1923), 500 million (26 September 1923), 5 billion and 10 billion mark notes (11 October 1923).[31] The Danzig mark was replaced by the Danzig gulden, first issued by the Danzig Central Finance Department on 22 October 1923.[31]

Papiermark of Danzig

Issue	Value	Image
1914 Emergency	50 Pfennig
	1 Mark
	2 Mark
	3 Mark
1916	10 Pfennig
	50 Pfennig
1918 First	5 Mark
	20 Mark
1918 Second	50 Pfennig
	20 Mark
1919	50 Pfennig
1922	100
	500
	1,000
1923 First	1,000
	10,000
	10,000
	50,000
1923 Provisional	1 million
	5 million
1923 Inflation	1 million
	10 million
	100 million
	500 million
	5 billion
	10 billion

Note on numeration

In German, Milliarde is 1,000,000,000, or one thousand million, while Billion is 1,000,000,000,000, or one million million.

See also

• 1922 in Germany
• 1923 in Germany

Notes

1. All values are in Reichsbank Mark.
2. Series date printed on the banknote.

Citations

1. Knapp, George Friedrich (1924), The State Theory of Money, Macmillan and Company, pp. vxi
2. "Biografie Hans Luther" (in German). Bayerische Nationalbibliothek. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
3. 1 Billion Mark - Westfalen at Numista.com. Accessed on 13 August 2020.
4. Barisheff 2013, p. 32.
5. Fischer 2010, p. 85.
6. Fischer 2010, p. 91.
7. Widdig 2001, p. 48.
8. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 555–64.
9. Cuhaj 2009, pp. 629–36.
10. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 555–56.
11. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 556.
12. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 557.
13. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 558.
14. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 558-59.
15. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 559.
16. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 560-61.
17. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 561-62.
18. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 562.
19. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 562-63.
20. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 563.
21. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 563-64.
22. Kelly 1920, p. 30.
23. Cuhaj 2009, p. 613.
24. Rand McNally 1911, p. 972.
25. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 427–30.
26. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 427–28.
27. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 428–30.
28. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 428.
29. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 429.
30. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 429–30.
31. Cuhaj 2010, pp. 430.

References

• Barisheff, Nick (2013). $10,000 Gold – Why Gold’s Inevitable Rise is the Investor’s Safe Haven. John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-118-44350-7.
• Cuhaj, George S., ed. (2009). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money Specialized Issues (11 ed.). Krause. ISBN 978-1-4402-0450-0.
• Cuhaj, George S., ed. (2010). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues (1368-1960) (13 ed.). Krause. ISBN 978-1-4402-1293-2.
• Fischer, Wolfgang C., ed. (2010). German Hyperinflation 1922/23: A Law and Eonomics Approach. Josef Eul Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3-89936-931-1.
• GermanNotes.com (2005). German Paper Money 1871-1999. eBook from germannotes.com
• Kelly, William J. (1920). "The Situation at Danzig". Journal of the American-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry. American-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 1 (6).
• Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
• Rand McNally (1911). "The Rand-McNally Banker's Director and List of Attorneys". Rand McNally International Bankers Directory. Rand McNally & Company. 70 (1).
• Widdig, Bernd (2001). Culture and Inflation in Weimar Germany. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22290-3.

External links

• Exchange rates

Preceded by: Goldmark	Currency of Germany 1914 – 1923	Succeeded by: Rentenmark Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 Rentenmark = 1,000,000,000 Papiermark, and 4.2 Rentenmark = US$1