Papiermark

Papiermark
Mark Template:De icon
	100 trillion mark
Unit
Plural	Mark
Symbol	ℳ‎
Denominations
Subunit
1/100	Pfennig
Plural
Pfennig	Pfennig
Symbol
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, 3, 200, 500 Mark
Demographics
User(s)	German Empire; Weimar Republic; Free City of Danzig; Bavarian Council Republic
Issuance
Central bank	Reichsbank

The name Papiermark^ⓘ (Template:Lang-en, officially just Mark, sign: ℳ) is applied to 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, the name is used for the banknotes issued during the hyperinflation in Germany of 1922 and especially 1923.

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 was 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 Papiermark = 1 Rentenmark. Later in 1924, the Rentenmark was replaced by the Reichsmark.

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 Jan 1923, about 1 thousandth of one cent by Oct 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 50,000,000 Mark.

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.^{[disputed – discuss]} Many Germans literally carted wheelbarrows of cash to pay for groceries.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1914 and the end of 1923 the German papiermark’s rate of exchange against the U.S. dollar plummeted from 4.2 mark/dollar to 4.2 trillion mark/dollar.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[3] 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.^[3] On 30 Nov 1923 it cost 1 trillion paper mark to buy a single gold mark.^[3]

In October 1923, Germany experienced a 29,500% hyperinflation (roughly 21% interest per day).^[4] 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).^[4]

On 15 November 1923 the papiermark was replaced by the rentenmark at 4.2 rentenmark/dollar,^[2] or 1 trillion papiermark/rentenmark (exchangeable through July 1925).^[5]

During the hyperinflation, ever higher denominations of banknotes were issued by the Reichsbank^[6] and other institutions (notably the Reichsbahn railway company).^[7] 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.

German Papiermark of the Weimar Republic (1920–24)

Republic Treasury Notes, Weimar Republic Reichsbanknote
Year	Issue	Value^{[nb 1]}	Date^{[nb 2]}	Comments
1920	First^[8]	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^[9]	10,000	19 Jan 1922	Bildnis Eines Jungen Mannes by Albrecht Dürer 210 mm × 124 mm (8.3 in × 4.9 in)
	Second^[10]	500	27 Mar 1922	Jakob Meyer of the Meyer zum Pfeil family. 175 mm × 112 mm (6.9 in × 4.4 in)
	Second^[10]	500	7 Jul 1922	173 mm × 90 mm (6.8 in × 3.5 in)
	Third^[10]	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 Hans Urmiller und Sohn 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^[10]	5,000	2 Dec 1922	Merchant Imhof based on Bildnis eines unbekannten Mannes by Albrecht Dürer 130 mm × 90 mm (5.1 in × 3.5 in)
	Fifth^[11]	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^[11]	100,000	1 Feb 1923	Merchant Georg Giese based on Der Kaufmann Georg Gisze by Hans Holbein the Younger 190 mm × 115 mm (7.5 in × 4.5 in)
	Second^[11]	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^[12]	5,000	15 Mar 1923	Portrait of Hans Urmiller based on Hans Urmiller und Sohn 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 Der Kaufmann Georg Gisze 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^[13]	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^[14]	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^[15]	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^[15]	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^[16]	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 Hans Urmiller und Sohn by Barthel Beham 145 mm × 90 mm (5.7 in × 3.5 in)
	Ninth^[16]	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 trillion	26 Oct 1923	174 mm × 86 mm (6.9 in × 3.4 in)
	Tenth^[17]	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^[18]	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^[18]	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 Bildnis einer jungen Venezianerin 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^[19]	5 trillion	15 Mar 1924	120 mm × 72 mm (4.7 in × 2.8 in)

German Papiermark of Danzig

The Danziger Privat Actien-Bank (opened 1856) was the first bank established in Danzig.^[20] They issued two series of notes denominated in thalers (1857 and 1862–73) prior to issuing the mark (1875, 1882, 1887).^[21] These mark issues are extremely rare.^[21] 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.^[22]

Issuance of the Danzig papiermark

The German papiermark was issued by Danzig from 1914 to 1923.^[23] Five series were issued during World War I by the City Council (1914, 1916, 1918 first and second issue, and 1919).^[24] Denominations ranged from 10 pfennig to 20 mark.^[24] 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).^[25] The 1922 issue (31 October 1922) was denominated in 100, 500, and 1000 mark notes.^[26] The denominations for the 1923 issue were 1000 (15 March 1923), and 10000 and 50000 mark notes (20 March 1923).^[27] 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.^[28] 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), and 5 billion mark notes (11 October 1923).^[29] The Danzig mark was replaced by the Danzig gulden, first issued by the Danzig Central Finance Department on 22 October 1923.^[29]

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

Footnotes

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

Notes

^ Knapp, George Friedrich (1924), The State Theory of Money, Macmillan and Company, pp. vxi
^ ^a ^b Barisheff 2013, p. 32.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Fischer 2010, p. 85.
^ ^a ^b Fischer 2010, p. 91.
^ Widdig 2001, p. 48.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 555–64.
^ Cuhaj 2009, pp. 629–36.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 555–56.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 556.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cuhaj 2010, pp. 557.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cuhaj 2010, pp. 558.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 558–59.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 559.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 560–61.
^ ^a ^b Cuhaj 2010, pp. 561–62.
^ ^a ^b Cuhaj 2010, pp. 562.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 562–63.
^ ^a ^b Cuhaj 2010, pp. 563.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 563–64.
^ Kelly 1920, p. 30.
^ ^a ^b Cuhaj 2009, p. 613.
^ Rand McNally 1911, p. 972.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 427–30.
^ ^a ^b Cuhaj 2010, pp. 427–28.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 428–30.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 428.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 429.
^ Cuhaj 2010, pp. 429–30.
^ ^a ^b 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. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Cuhaj, George S., ed. (2009). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money Specialized Issues (11 ed.). Krause. ISBN 978-1-4402-0450-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Cuhaj, George S., ed. (2010). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues (1368-1960) (13 ed.). Krause. ISBN 978-1-4402-1293-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Fischer, Wolfgang C., ed. (2010). German Hyperinflation 1922/23: A Law and Eonomics Approach. Josef Eul Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3-89936-931-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
GermanNotes.com (2005). German Paper Money 1871-1999. eBook from germannotes.com^{[dead link‍]}
Kelly, William J. (1920). "The Situation at Danzig". Journal of the American-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 1 (6). American-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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. 70 (1). Rand McNally & Company. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Widdig, Bernd (2001). Culture and Inflation in Weimar Germany. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22290-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

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

[8] All values are in Reichsbank Mark.

[9] Series date printed on the banknote.

[George_Friedrich_Knapp_1924_xvi-1] Knapp, George Friedrich (1924), The State Theory of Money, Macmillan and Company, pp. vxi

[FOOTNOTEBarisheff201332-2] Barisheff 2013, p. 32.

[FOOTNOTEFischer201085-3] Fischer 2010, p. 85.

[FOOTNOTEFischer201091-4] Fischer 2010, p. 91.

[FOOTNOTEWiddig200148-5] Widdig 2001, p. 48.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010555–64-6] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 555–64.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2009629–36-7] Cuhaj 2009, pp. 629–36.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010555–56-10] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 555–56.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010556-11] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 556.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010557-12] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 557.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010558-13] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 558.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010558–59-14] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 558–59.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010559-15] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 559.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010560–61-16] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 560–61.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010561–62-17] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 561–62.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010562-18] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 562.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010562–63-19] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 562–63.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010563-20] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 563.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010563–64-21] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 563–64.

[FOOTNOTEKelly192030-22] Kelly 1920, p. 30.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2009613-23] Cuhaj 2009, p. 613.

[FOOTNOTERand_McNally1911972-24] Rand McNally 1911, p. 972.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010427–30-25] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 427–30.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010427–28-26] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 427–28.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010428–30-27] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 428–30.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010428-28] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 428.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010429-29] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 429.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010429–30-30] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 429–30.

[FOOTNOTECuhaj2010430-31] Cuhaj 2010, pp. 430.

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v t e Currencies named mark or similar
Circulating	Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark (konvertibilna marka, конвертибилна марка)
Defunct	AM-Mark Deutsche Mark East German mark Estonian mark Finnish markka German mark German ostmark German Papiermark German Reichsmark German Rentenmark German South West African mark Hamburg mark Lodz Ghetto mark New Guinean mark Polish marka Saar mark South West African mark
As a denomination	Merk Scots