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Currency history

Deutsche Mark

Deutsche Mark: a historical unit of account.

Dates in use
Introduction and ending not established
Ancestry branch
Prussian thaler
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Where this money came from

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9 ancestors · 1 descendant. Follow a name to its history. Select a dated connection for its evidence.

DocumentedQualified

This currency also received later contributions, distinguished below from its origins.

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The story

The surviving evidence establishes this unit of account, but a fuller narrative is still being developed. Its known connections are shown above; the research page documents what is established and what remains uncertain.

Turning points

Multiple currency unification

Deutsche Mark displaced Reichsmark in western Germany under differentiated conversion rules. No universal 10:1 factor; ongoing payments and financial holdings received different treatment. [1]

Multiple currency unification

The western reform also invalidated Rentenmark notes. [2]

Multiple currency unification

Allied military marks also ceased validity in the western currency reform. [3]

Euro monetary substitution

1 EUR = 1.95583 DEM. Germany: euro adoption 1999-01-01; cash 2002-01-01. Regulation 974/98 substitutes the euro for each participating state’s currency on its adoption date; cash changeover is separately defined. [4] [5] [6]

National cash last legal tender day

German-mark legal tender ended on 31 December 2001; voluntary retail/banking acceptance continued through 28 February 2002. [7]

Euro cash changeover

Germany: euro adoption 1999-01-01; cash 2002-01-01. [5]

Sources and evidence

  1. Deutsche Bundesbank · The circulation of Deutsche Mark — from currency reform to European monetary union, March 2002; Deutsche Bundesbank · Dates of German monetary policy — detailed version C888 ↗
  2. Deutsche Bundesbank · The circulation of Deutsche Mark — from currency reform to European monetary union, March 2002 C889 ↗
  3. Deutsche Bundesbank · The circulation of Deutsche Mark — from currency reform to European monetary union, March 2002 C890 ↗
  4. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 2866/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C666 ↗
  5. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C667 ↗
  6. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C646 ↗
  7. European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs · Germany and the euro C704 ↗

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Cite this page

“Deutsche Mark.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/FTM000312.html

Editorial evidence supplement · Download dataset v44

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