The Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West and, from 1990, unified Germany. It was first issued under Allied occupation in 1948 replacing the Reichsmark, and served as the Federal Republic of Germany's official currency from its founding the following year until 1999, when the mark was superseded by the Euro; its coins and banknotes remained in circulation, defined in terms of euros, until the introduction of euro notes and coins in early 2002, after which they were quickly withdrawn.

The Deutsche Bundesbank or services like GFC has guaranteed that all DM cash may be changed into Euro forever. One euro was set to be equivalent to DEM 1.95583. 1 Mark = 100 Pfennig.

In colloquial German, the 10 Pfennig coin was also called a Groschen.

History
A mark had been the currency of Germany since its original unification in 1871. Before that time, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16 2/3 grams of pure silver. Although the mark was based on gold rather than silver, a fixed exchange rate between the Veriensthaler and the mark of 3 mark = 1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion.

The first mark, known as the gold mark, was introduced in 1873. With the outbreak of the First World War, the mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the Papiermark, especially as high, then hyperinflation occurred and the currency became exclusively made up of paper money. The Papiermark was replaced by the Rentenmark in late 1923 and the Reichsmark in the following year. In the former GDR the East German mark (Mark der DDR, unofficially Ostmark) was used.

The Deutsche Mark was introduced in 1948 by the Allied powers once the post-war division of Germany into East and West seemed permanent. The move, intended to protect West Germany from the second wave of hyperinflation and stop the rampant barter and black market trade (where American cigarettes acted as currency), angered the Soviet authorities in East Berlin, who regarded it as a threat and promptly cut off all transport (road, rail and canal) links from West Germany to West Berlin. This led to the Berlin Crisis of 1949.

The mark was issued by the Deutsche Bundesbank and earned a reputation as a strong store of value at times when other national currencies succumbed to periods of inflation. It became a source of national pride and an anchor of the country's economic prosperity, particularly during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder in the 1950s. In the 1990s, opinion polls showed a majority of Germans opposed to the adoption of the euro; polls today show a significant number would prefer to return to the mark.

The deutsche mark played an important role in re-unification. It was introduced as the official currency of East Germany in July 1990, replacing the Ostmark, in preparation for unification on October 3. Bank accounts were exchanged at a rate of 1:1 for the first few thousand marks, which many economists criticized as being too generous, and a key cause of the subsequent economic problems in the new German states.

Coins
The image displays the obverses of all regular coins, with the values of 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.50, 1.00, 2.00 and 5.00 DM (there is no 0.20 coin, and originally there was no 2.00 coin either). 0.01 and 0.02 are copper-colored, 0.05 and 0.10 are brass-colored, the rest are silver-colored. The reverse displays an oak twig (0.01-0.10), a woman planting an oak seedling (0.50), the Bundesadler (German eagle; 1.00 and 5.00) and faces of the German politicians and scientists Konrad Adenauer (Chancellor), Theodor Heuss (President), Franz-Josef Strauss (Minister of Defense), Ludwig Erhard (Chancellor), Kurt Schumacher (Leader of the SPD), Willy Brandt (Chancellor) and Max Planck (Physicist) (2.00). There is a considerable number of commemorative 5 and 10 DM coins, which actually had the status of legal tender but are rarely seen outside of collectors' circles.

Banknotes
One issued in 1948 by the Bank deutscher Länder, an institution of the western occupation government. The designs were similar to the US Dollar, French franc, and British pound, as the job of designing and printing the different denominations was shared between the occupying powers.
One issued in 1960 by the Bundesbank, depicting neutral symbols and famous paintings and buildings. There were 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 DM denominations.
One issued in 1989 by the Bundesbank to counter advances in forgery technology. The notes depicted German artists and scientists together with symbols and tools of their trade. This series added a 200 DM denomination, to decrease the use of 100 DM banknotes, which made up 54% of all circulating banknotes, and to fill the "gap" between bthe 100 DM and 500 DM denomination. However, the 200 DM was very rarely seen and was not accepted by the public.
In the latter two series, the 5 DM denomination was rarely seen, as were the ones with a value greater than 100 DM.

Banknotes of the third series (1990-2002)
A 10 Deutsche Mark banknote from Germany 1993 showing Carl Friedrich Gauss (http://www.germannotes.com)The design of German banknotes remained unchanged since the 1960's. Since then, forgery technology made significant advances, so in the late 1980's the Bundesbank decided to issue a new series of Deutsche Mark banknotes.

The colours for each denomination remained unchanged to the previous series, but the design underwent a significant change, and a 200 DM denomiation was newly introduced. Famous national artists and scientists were chosen to be displayed on the new banknotes. Interestingly, male and female artists were chosen in equal numbers. The buildings in the background of the note's obverse have always a close relationship to the person displayed (e.g. place of birth, place of death, of work), as well as the second background picture (Lyra and the musician Schumann).

The reverse of the note refers to the work of the person on the obverse. The new security features were: A windowed security-thread (with the notes denomination in microprinting), micro-printing, itaglio-printing, colour-shifting ink (on the 500 and 1000 DEM denominations), a see-through register, and UV-visible security features. First to be issued were the 100 and 200 DM denominations on 1 October 1990 (although the banknote shows "Frankfurt am Main, 2.Januar 1989"). The next denomination was 10 DM in March 1991, followed by 50 DM in autumn the same year. Next was the 20 DEM note in March 1992 (printed on 2 January 1991).

The reason for this gradual introduction was, that public should become familiar with one single denomination, before introducing a new one. The change was finished with the introduction of the 5, 500, and 1000 DM denominations on 1 October 1992. The latter three denominations were rarely seen in circulation and were introduced in one step. With the advance of forgery technology, the Bundesbank decided to introduce additional security features on the most important denominations (50, 100, and 200 DM) as of 1996. These were a hologram foil in the center of the note's obverse, a matted printing on the note's right obverse, showing its denomination (like on the reverse of the new €5, €10, and €20 banknotes), and the EURion constellation on the note's reverse. Furthermore, the colors were changed a bit to pastel to hamper counterfeing.